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AMERICANISM VERSUS CHRISTIANITY 



Americanism 



versus 



Christianity 

By 

J. G. Schwalm 




192 1 

THE STRATFORD CO., Publishers 

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 



6^ 



Copyright 1921 

The STRATFORD CO., Publishers 

Boston, Mass. 



The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 

MAN c\ 1921 
3>CU608755 



Miration 

The contents of this book are offered with the intensest de- 
votion to what is good and true, with the deepest reverence for 
what is honest and just, with the highest respect for what is 
democratic, and without one single thought of either revenge or 
reward. It is inscribed, dedicated, and devoted to the highest 
development of Courageous thinking, Skillful direction and Un- 
selfish action. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction 1 

The American Spirit 5 

BOOK 

i Uncle Sam's Religion 9 

n Life and Teachings of Jesus and Socrates Compared . 56 

Introduction to Book III 93 

in Is Jesus A Model? 95 

iv Can Christianity Save Us 155 



INTRODUCTION 

Much has been said recently about open discussion and open 
treaties. Secret diplomacy and secret treaties were denounced 
and a large hope has been fostered for a candid declaration of 
world confidence. This was in the political field of human in- 
terests, but the political diplomats availed themselves of the 
most guarded seclusion in all matters of great importance. The 
hope and promise did not materialize. 

In the same way do we hear a great deal about the new 
aims of the church. "Service" is the great slogan in the open. 
Sermons, prayer and sacraments are not very essential. Saving 
the individual soul from the "wrath of God" is not popular in 
the open, and of the saints in glory we hear only in hymn and 
funeral oration. 

Salvation Army "doughnuts" are the gods of today and 
from all indications Y. M. C. A. preachments are taboo. How- 
ever, when the Convent and Sundayschool are investigated, 
"doughnuts" are still regarded as dangerous to the "soul." 
Among the diplomats of the creeds, the world is still the work of 
six days and the serpent is still endowed with the cunning of 
human language. Death is punishment and blood a remedy for 
vice. 

Perhaps the best criterion of the present aim and content 
of Christian instruction may be gleaned from the contemporary 
"practical lessons" of the Sundayschool quarterlies. There 
are twelve selected Lessons, and here follows the Sundayschool 
sentiment as expressed by the diplomats of the creeds: — First 
lesson: "God demands our undivided service." Second: 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

" Jesus' life, death and resurrection evidence his deity." 
Third: "Christ died for our sins and was raised for our jus- 
tification." Fourth: "United prayer will prevail." Fifth: 
"Man is God's handiwork. He is not the result of an evolution- 
ary process." Sixth: "The wages of sin is death." Seventh: 
"We are saved by faith and not by our good deeds." Eighth: 
"Now is the day of salvation." Ninth: "Faith secures deliv- 
erance and cleansing from sin." Tenth: "He that doeth 
the will of God endureth forever." Eleventh: "Prayer offered 
aright is assured of an abundant answer." Twelfth: "Our 
greatest need is to have the love of Christ planted in our souls. ' ' 

But the new time is rich in open confessions in defense 
of an entirely different religious program. The fighting men and 
the working men came out of the war with quite a changed view 
of "Practical Lessons." In the open everything is for deeds — 
nothing for creeds. "Courage, Unselfishness, Skill." This is 
the new "Savior." Favorable conditions and adapted environ- 
ments — the new sacraments. 

Among the many expressions along this line which have 
come to my notice recently, the following by three famous men 
are representative. Fred B. Smith, interchurch movement 
worker of national fame, as reported in the Rocky Mountain 
News, said: "Money, religious work and efficiency of organiza- 
tion will all go for nothing unless we have a real gospel that 
will better every human being in every day life. The old idea of 
individual salvation must give way to a desire to look out for the 
salvation of the community. The saving of the soul of one's 
fellowman must consist in caring for his body as well as his 
soul, in giving him a decent living, the right sort of working 
conditions, so that his physical condition will not interfere with 
the development of his spiritual being." 

The same sentiment is expressed by Judge Ben B. Lindsey in 

M 



INTRODUCTION 

the Denver Post: " 'Y' preachers overdid the type of preaching 
from the text: 'What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole 
world and lose his own soul?' while the people were thinking 
'What shall it profit a man if he save his own soul if the whole 
world is to be lost?' The preachers were preaching the old 
cowardly religion of individual salvation. The people were 
living the brave new religion of the salvation of the world. In 
the great war which society is always waging against the forces 
of nature, the men in the trenches of industry are the front-line 
soldiers protecting the world against want and hardship, while 
they themselves suffer and die, that others may be safe. Great 
masses of these others, the idle rich and leisured classes, live with- 
out a thought for the welfare of the man who toils for them. 
They go to church to be told how to save their own selfish souls, 
and their religion has as little appeal to the soldier of peace as 
to the soldier of war. ' ' 

In his latest book, "Another Sheaf," John Galsworthy 
says: "By courage and kindness modern man exists, warmed 
by the glow of the great human fellowship. He has rediscovered 
the old Greek saying, 'God is the helping of man by man,' has 
found out in his unself-conscious way that if he does not help 
himself and his fellows, he cannot reach the inner peace which 
satisfies. To do his bit, and be kind. It is by that creed, rather 
than by any mysticism, that he finds the salvation of his soul." 
We have in these quotations a remarkable rejection of the very 
center and highest ambition of orthodox Christianity. To 
this "salvation" of the community by physical, industrial and 
commercial conditions, the "Practical Lessons" of the Sunday- 
school have not the slightest relation. There, and in the convent 
and conference of ministerial diplomats, nothing is known of 
human help. There, faith, prayer and blood are all sufficient. 
There, the beggar subsisting on "crumbs" — the man without 

[3] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

where to lay his head — are the idols and models. The well-to-do 
man enjoying life, the prosperous farmer building larger gran- 
aries — the stockman buying oxen — the man getting married — the 
land man — these are the evil ones to be despised and denounced. 

In the open, the worship of poverty is dead, salvation by faith 
and prayer renounced and the tragedy of a dying God on a 
cross is rejected; but secretly and in great ecclesiastical convo- 
cations, the "holy alliance" method is still in practice — the world 
can be saved not by self-help or better living conditions, but by 
Christ alone who is God and the Bible alone which is God's word. 

Against these disastrous fabrications, we protest with all the 
forces of discovery and argument at our command. 

The Author. 



THE AMERICAN SPIRIT 

To form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure 
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defence, pro- 
mote the general Welfare and secure the blessings of Liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity. — Preamble to the United States 
Constitution. 

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of 
religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the 
freedom of speech or of the press. — Constitution. 

All men are created equal and are endowed with certain 
inalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty and the pursuit 
of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are in- 
stituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned. — Declaration of Independence. 

For, happily, the government of the United States, which 
gives to bigotry no sanction and to persecution no assistance, re- 
quires only that those who live under its protection should de- 
mean themselves as good citizens. — George Washington. 

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firm- 
ness in the right as God gives us to see it. — Abraham Lincoln. 

We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died 
in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom and 
that the government of the people, by the people and for the 
people shall not perish from the earth. — Abraham Lincoln. 

Be just and kind and do not be proud, and you are safe in 
any world and in any life. — Myron W. Reed. 

"The American's creed" for which the city of Baltimore 
offered a prize of $1,000 was made public here today. Its selec- 
ts] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

tion was the result of a "national citizens' creed contest' ' ap- 
proved by President Wilson, Speaker Clark and many other 
famous Americans. The author of the creed, who wins the $1,000 
prize, is William Tyler Page of Friendship Heights, Maryland. 

The American's Creed — I believe in the United States of 
America as a government of the people, by the people, for the peo- 
ple ; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the gov- 
erned; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign nation of many 
sovereign states; a perfect union, one and inseparable; estab- 
lished upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and 
humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives 
and fortunes. 

I, therefore, believe it is my duty to my country to love it, 
to support its constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, 
and to defend it against all enemies. 



[6] 



BOOK I 

UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

The Bible in the Public Schools. 

No teacher or student of any public educational institution 
shall ever be required to attend or participate in any religious 
service whatever. No sectarian tenets or doctrines shall ever 
be brought into the public schools, nor shall any distinction or 
classification of pupils be made on account of race or color. — 
Article 9, Section 8, Colorado State Constitution. 

We cannot doubt that the use of the Bible as a textbook in 
the public schools has a tendency to inoculate sectarian ideas, 
and sectarian instruction is prohibited by the constitution.- — 
Supreme Court of Wisconsin. 

No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification 
for any office or public trust under the United States. — United 
States Constitution. 

The government of the United States is not in any sense 
founded on the Christian religion. — Treaty with Tripoli. 

Before proceeding with my subject, I want to say a few 
words by way of introduction. I wish to mention two things 
in particular; and, first, I will say to this audience that I am 
here tonight, strictly, and without any other affiliation than, an 
American citizen. 

To me there is no other name or title so expressive of no- 
bility and high aspirations as the name American. Whatever 
may be said of other empires and kingdoms, either civil or ec- 
clesiastical — in liberty, in generosity, in humanity and in the 
recognition of the rights of man — America outranks them all. 
Theology and the church insist that the Infinite is interested 

[9] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

in nothing but Christianity. But there's not the slightest doubt 
in my mind that when that great day of judgment dawns (if it 
ever does) there will be a splendid appropriation of space in 
the Heavenly Republic for Americans. And, I think, that 
great judgment will not be so much of a police court as it will 
be a great universal carnival, patterned somewhat after the Chi- 
cago Columbian Exposition. Somehow or other, when I read 
the lives of our great Americans and compare their views and 
conduct with the contentions of the church, I am afraid their 
credentials would scarcely admit them to the Golden Streets of 
the New Jerusalem. 

So, instead of narrowing down theology to the petty con- 
fines of Christendom, I widen it out to the splendid conceptions 
of our American form of Government, which takes in every in- 
terest, creed or color ; and instead of but one New City, one New 
Jerusalem, there will be a New Washington, a New Paris, a 
New London ; and there will not only be represented the interests 
of this earth, but the interests of a thousand million worlds, of 
which the imagination of man has never dreamed. And there, 
among the largest and most glorious exhibits, will be the Am- 
erican Exhibit. And there will be a mighty White House, where 
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin 
and Thomas Paine will tell us how they won the Revolution, how 
Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and how Ben 
Franklin caught the lightning from the clouds. And there will 
be magnificent state buildings where Lincoln and Garrison and 
Wendell Phillips and Grant will tell how they freed four mil- 
lion slaves. And there will be grand and glorious mansions, 
where Emerson and Lowell and Holmes and Whittier will tell us 
all about how they wrote their beautiful poems and es- 
says. And there will be fine theatres, where Booth and Barrett 
and Joseph Jefferson will play Othello, and Hamlet, and Julius 

[10] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

Caesar, and Shakespeare will drop in from the English quarter 
and clap his hands and stamp his feet with delight. And Souza 
will be there with his great band, and New York and Chicago 
will be there with their baseball teams. And the builders of 
the railroads will be there, and Thomas Edison will be there 
with his inventions. And the schools and colleges and univer- 
sities will be there ; and science and art and business and labor. 
Everybody will be there with his exhibit and there will be prizes 
and admiration and pity and consolation for all. No tickets, 
no bars, no doors, or locks, to the American Heaven. 

I am very certain the Infinite is at least as good as the aver- 
age American and will not damn a man on account of his re- 
ligion. 

In the next place, I want to mention in particular that what- 
ever indiscreet word I may say will fall on my own head. In 
delivering this address, I am quite within my rights ; and if you 
will simply grant me the right which you claim for yourself, 
namely, to think about religion according to the dictates of my 
conscience, we will get along nicely. I hope you will do this 
while I now address you on the subject, "WHY WE DON'T 
WANT THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.' ' 

The human mind, when properly educated, is an index 
to universal creation. Without the human mind, the universe 
would be a blank. Time and space, force and matter, could in 
no wise become known or understood if human reason failed in 
its high office. Earth, Heaven and all conceptions, material and 
immaterial, derive their names and classification from the func- 
tions of the human mind. Mind is the great factor at the be- 
ginning and in the accomplishment of all attainments. In every 
enterprise, in every effort, in every activity, in reading, writing 
and thinking, in science and state, in business and trade, in the 
pursuit of every calling, high or low, secular or divine, mind, 

["3 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

reason, intelligence stands at our side and guides our word and 
work. 

And just in proportion to the training and culture that a 
mind receives does it become possessed of those powers and fac- 
ulties which are useful in the promotion of human life and hap- 
piness. Quench the human mind, and the world becomes a mad- 
house ; but store it with useful knowledge and moral resolve, and 
it will transform the wilderness into a garden and fill the world 
with music and song. 

And this is the high calling of our public schools, in whose 
welfare we are so earnestly interested. Gladly do we contribute 
our support to these excellent institutions, and with a zealous 
eye do we guard their high and unsurpassed qualifications. And 
we want to preserve them free and untarnished from the hand 
of every foe, and free from supersitition. 

Oh, the beauty and grandeur of true education! What 
promises and hopes, what achievements and triumphs do we not 
apprehend from the power of knowledge! What glories shall 
not follow in the wake of intellectual expansion! What undis- 
covered heights and what unknown depths shall not become 
known! Knowledge of mysteries now inconceivable. Compre- 
hension of the whirling suns and aquaintance with the wonder- 
ful atom. Understanding of endless space and conception of 
eternal time. Discernment of the great first cause and the de- 
termination of life. The facts of the universe tabulated and a 
register to the constellations as well as to the smallest particle of 
matter. Intellectual expansion to catch and harness unknown 
forces — to find voices in distant planets and send messages of 
greeting to other worlds. To bridge the spaces between these 
worlds as we now bridge the ocean between continents. To bring 
perpetual health where now disease and death hold sway. To 
overcome every defect, every fraud, every falsehood, every super- 

[12] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

stition and transform the world into a habitation of universal 
joy and gladness. This is the "ultimate end of education; and 
every teacher, inasmuch as he is true to his high calling, be- 
comes a stepping-stone to this ultimate consummation so devoutly 
hoped for. 

Teacher, your calling is noble and grand above every other 
calling. Inculcate the rules of proper conduct, and the preacher 
becomes a superfluous appurtenance. Diffuse the knowledge and 
comprehension of civil law and the rights of man, and the law- 
yer will have to take down his shingle. Worship at the shrine of 
moderation, temperance and purity, and the doctors must be- 
come extinct. But in order to serve the cause of this high destiny, 
you must be leaders, not mere followers. You must be open- 
minded to all questions, and, above all, you must cut loose from 
superstition; and what I say to the teacher, I say to each and 
every one in this house. 

Don't think for a moment you can harm the universe by 
using your reason. 

Don't think others have rights which you have not. Your 
heart and your hands and your head have equal rights. Your 
heart must beat, your hands must work and your brain must 
think. This is the economy of life. 

Human progress, in all its various departments, would be 
impossible were it not for the fact that almost every human being 
is a living question mark — a constant interrogation. 

Eyes and ears must be alert to catch the sight and sound 
which have promise of new knowledge. Brain and hand must 
be active in the solution of new mysteries. The heavens must 
be scanned and the earth examined, and a thousand wonders 
explained. The courses of suns and planets are already traced 
on maps defining spaces billions of miles in extent. The forces 
of nature are harnessed, and lightning, fire and water do the 

[13] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

bidding of man. The history of the earth is read in fossil and 
strata, and life is traced to its simplest form through a thousand 
centuries of time. This studying and questioning of the dark 
and unknown began with the earliest generations. By it, meas- 
ures and weights were determined and latitudes fixed. By it 
the grains and metals were classified. By it the arts and sciences 
were developed. In short, from this tendency to doubt and 
question and investigate came everything of past and present 
achievement; and the man who seeks to discourage this study 
and search for the higher and better renders a mighty poor 
service to mankind. The growth and progress of man will cease 
when his doubts and investigations cease. And yet, thou- 
sands are dead to this important truth. Thousands put belief 
above knowledge, blind obedience above independent thought. 
They accept without question the most ridiculous propositions 
and defend the meanest superstitions. Many men start out in 
life with a free and untrammeled intellect, but later become con- 
verts to some creed and there they camp. Minds which might 
render noble service by original investigation settle down in front 
of a belief and accept everything in submission and spend their 
life in devotion to an incomprehensible fiction. They dismiss all 
doubts and discard all study. To them a doubt becomes a dan- 
gerous enemy. To them all truth has been discovered; all pro- 
gress achieved, and new light becomes an impossibility. 

The duty of man is not to camp in front of any belief, but 
to go forward in the search of truth and wisdom in all the realms 
of an infinite universe and explore and conquer it to the full 
extent of his ability. 

Protected by eternal goodness and power and guided by 
infinite intelligence and wisdom it is our duty to be of useful 
service to the world and aid in carrying it forward to that "di- 
vine event toward which the whole creation moves." And this 

[i4] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

we can only do by original thought, by looking up to the highest 
heights and into the deepest depths and telling or recording our 
observations, that others may be guided to still higher and deeper 
investigations, and so solve the riddle of the universe. But while 
education and science are carrying on this grand work, they are 
doing it under a mighty handicap. Every step forward is be- 
set by enemies who would pull the world back and chain it to the 
superstitions of barbaric ages. And it is with pain that I must 
here accuse the church as one of these enemies ; and as the church 
receives its instruction and authority from the Bible, we must 
abide by the logic of a modern Bible scholar when he says, "As 
the Constitution of the United States is the final authority in 
all matters of government for the United States, so the Bible 
is the sole authority in all questions as to the Christian religion. ' ' 
— (Dr. John McDowell, in Bible Record.) 

This is all very well with the Constitution ; for that is not a 
fixed or divine authority, but derives its powers from the consent 
of the governed, or human reason. But with the Bible, it is 
different. No matter how absurd or dangerous the Statutes of 
the Bible may be or become, they are final ; and any attempt to 
reform or adapt laws made two, three or four thousand years ago 
to present conditions becomes treason and rebellion against es- 
tablished authority. The Bible as the sole authority in a pro- 
gressive world becomes a tyrant and despot whenever or wher- 
ever in power. Now somehow or other, it has happened that for 
the last three years in connection with our commencement exer- 
cises an effort has been made to mix into our schools a large 
amount of religion ; and when it comes to that I want to have a 
hand in it. 

But this is a perplexing proposition. It is decreed by the 
powers that be that teachers must be church members, or, at 
least, associate with the clan. Church hymns and church prayers 

[IS] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

are the order of the day and preachers are the high dignitaries 
during graduating exercises. After the teachers with high- 
grade certificates and untiring effort have for nine months taught 
the truths of science and ethics, on the last day a minister is called 
in to declare that all the educational efforts are nil, and that the 
only thing worthy of any consideration is the church and her 
superstitions. 

For three years in succession, this very thing has taken place 
in Sterling. Last year the minister of the Methodist church de- 
livered a baccalaureate sermon on "The Bible in the Public 
School," which was a slander on science, and an imposition on 
American citizenship. It may seem somewhat immodest for a 
layman to dispute with the "man of the cloth;" but after long 
and deliberate thought, I have concluded that an independent 
discourse on that subject was quite in order. 

As you may have noticed from what I have already said, I 
am in favor of absolute freedom of thought. I believe in ques- 
tioning everything and everybody. If I belonged to any one of 
the 700 Christian denominations, you could to some extent de- 
termine what I am going to say. But as I am American only, 
you are at a loss how to judge my philosophy; for under the 
American form of government each citizen is a sovereign, a king. 
He may worship or he may abstain from it. He may believe in 
traditional creeds or he may frame a creed all his own. He 
may believe in the God of Abram, Isaac and Jacob, or he may 
deny every God from the bushman's fetich to the image wor- 
shipped by Elijah II. There are no chains or dungeons for the 
worshiper in America and we are glad of that. Free as the air — 
free as the fleet-winged bird — the American sweeps up or down, 
east or west; — all directions are open to him and he soars un- 
hampered by any system of religious doctrine, up, up to the sun 
and drinks in the light. Just as the mountains appear never 

[16] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

alike, each hill and peak having its own peculiar aspect, so each 
and every American is different. This is the great privilege 
which our American form of government gives us and which 
the Christian form of government absolutely denies. And this 
is the first and chief reason why we do not want the Bible in our 
schools. 

The Constitution says plainly that freedom of conscience 
shall not be prohibited, that freedom of thought and free speech 
shall be preserved. l ' Congress shall make no law respecting the 
establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. ' ' 
This is plain enough; and inasmuch as this is in direct contra- 
diction to the precepts of the Bible, we want to avoid the conflict 
arising from this controversy in our schools. 

This country stands for the principle that all authority is 
derived from the people. The Bible says that authority is de- 
rived from quite a different source. We have seen fit as a na- 
tion to completely separate the church and state. I suppose there 
are plenty of good reasons why this has been done. Almost every 
country in the world is trying to get rid of the church as an 
authority, and in the history of the world we find why this is 
so. It would seem, if the Bible were a good thing, the institu- 
tions founded on it would be good also, but what do we find? 
From the earliest time when the Bible or the religion of the 
Bible came into power it resulted in the most fearful tyranny 
and we now look back to that time and call it the Dark Ages. 
Martin Luther, infidel to Rome and Protestant reformer, thought 
he could still retain the Bible and also have religious liberty but 
what does history tell us? Protestantism in power with the 
Bible as its guide can but follow in the footsteps of Rome and say, 
"Thou shalt have no other Gods before me," or "He who be- 
lie veth not shall be damned." 

Read the history of any country, Spain, France, Germany, 

[17] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

England, the American Colonies, wherever Christianity became 
possessed of power you will find the same record of intolerance, 
persecution and death. And let me say right here to you who 
perhaps innocently enough want to christianize the world: I do 
not doubt that your intentions are of the best; you think very 
likely, if you could send enthusiastic Christians to our legisla- 
tures you could obtain great things. Nothing fraught with more 
danger could happen to this, or any other country, than to have 
it christianized. Spain is christianized ; Mexico is christianized ; 
South America is christianized. All these countries want to get 
rid of Christianity. They want to get rid of Bible government. 
They want freedom of thought, freedom of religion. The Bible 
knows nothing of these blessings and rights. The Bible demands 
belief, submission, and is the enemy of human reason. To show 
you how Christianity would act if it had power, let me quote to 
you a few ideas of representative Christian ministers. 

In his address last year, the Methodist minister made this 
statement, and these are his identical words: "Pray tell me 
who it is that wants the Bible out of the schools? I will tell 
you who it is. It is that man with a low brow and shuffling 
step, who believes neither in God nor humanity — that anarchist, 
who would throttle law and justice, assassinate the ruler and 
eliminate God from the universe." 

There are several million people in this country who fall 
into this class. 

"Pray tell me who it is that wants the Bible out of the 
schools ? ' ' 

Let me answer that question in the light of the actual facts. 

First, I myself want the Bible out of the schools. To my- 
self must be attributed the qualities which the minister de- 
scribes as belonging to "that man" who wants the Bible out of 
the schools. 

[18] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

Next, all the Jews and very nearly all Catholics, and then, 
the great majority of those not identified with the churches; 
next, nearly all scientists and all those who belong to the classes 
known as Infidels, Evolutionists, Agnostics, Sceptics, Independ- 
ents, Freethought and New Thoughtists, Unitarians, Universal- 
ists, Spiritualists, Occultists, etc. I shall not mention any in- 
dividuals, although the names I could produce tempt me greatly 
to do so. 

The answer which the minister makes to his question is 
an insinuation, if not a direct statement, that all those who do 
not want the Bible in the schools belong to the class which he 
describes. But to vilify and degrade those who see things dif- 
ferently is the chief vocation of the church, and if the preacher 
had the power to act as he has the privilege to vent his malice 
and hate, there is little doubt as to what he would do to those 
who are opposed to the Bible in the schools. 

The defender of the Bible is a believer in religious perse- 
cution. The instances where punishment and death are inflicted 
upon those of a different faith are almost countless. Jesus and 
Paul are agreed, and the church has never failed to execute their 
awful declarations: "He who believeth not shall be damned. 
Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into 
outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the 
devil and his angels." 

This is Christianity according to Jesus. Paul puts the 
same thing in a different form : " If any man love not the Lord 
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha." "If any man 
preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let 
him be accursed." (Gal. 1:9.) 

"If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, 
receive him not into your house." (2 John 1:10.) 

[19] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

What this doctrine constitutes, the creeds of the church leave 
no doubt. It means belief in the fall of man; the divinity of 
Christ ; the conception of the Holy Ghost ; the Virgin birth ; the 
crucifixion ; the resurrection ; the Trinity and the Sabbath. 

Doubt any of these, and the curse of the church is at your 
door ; and if in power, your fate is the decree of its masters. 

Condemning heretics and crusades against science are the 
ever-present and infamous objects of the church. The freedom 
of conscience is as far from Christianity as high noon is from 
midnight. 

I want to make it plain that, even in our time, Christianity 
is the same dangerous foe to liberty that it always has been. 
Today the church is on her knees. Power to enforce her decrees 
and commands has been taken from her. She is chafing under 
the restraint, and to throw off this restraint and re-establish her 
sway is her only ambition. For this purpose, she carries on a 
perpetual campaign for money. For this purpose, missionaries 
are sent abroad and Bibles are given away. For this purpose, 
she wants the Bible in the public schools ; and every gain in power 
and influence of the church is so much loss to science and educa- 
tion and the freedom of thought, speech and worship. 

I am going to give you two more quotations to show you what 
the church would do if she had the power. I could quote any 
number of similar declarations, but it would take too much time 
and is unnecessary. In an address delivered at the Christian 
Endeavor Convention in Denver, a noted minister of Kansas 
City said this : 

"The greatest criminal is not he who stabs the body or 
shoots the brain, but he who poisons the soul. The greatest 
criminal is he who crucifies afresh the son of God and under- 
mines the faith of thousands. Worse than an assassin who kills 
the body is he who shatters the faith of youth. The arch fiend, 

[20] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

followed by the howling mob with bloodhound and halter, is he 
who overcame a woman's virtue. They may burn the wretch, 
but such a sensual monster is a saint in comparison with the ag- 
nostic. 

The greatest criminal 4n the world is the dispenser of 
doubt — the preacher of agnosticism. ' ' 

Now, what do you think of that ? Suppose we had men like 
that in congress. Is there any doubt what they would do with 
the agnostic ? And who are the agnostics ? Huxley was the or- 
iginator of that term. He was an agnostic, because he said he 
did not know everything. A man who says he does not know 
everything is an agnostic. "Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, 
Franklin, Samuel Adams, Emerson, Lowell, Holmes, Tennyson, 
Shakespeare, Shelley, Pope, all were agnostics. Every one said he 
did not know everything. And these are the men in comparison 
with whom the rape fiend and murderer is a saint. Foul ! Foul 
doctrine ! It is a disgrace to the intelligence of any community to 
let such slander and insanity go unreproved and unchallenged. 

Here is one more from a sermon by a Bishop of Denver. 
This is a Catholic opinion and takes in the political side of the 
question. Listen ! 

"Wherefore in the name of society, in the name of prog- 
ress, we must hurl an anathema against any system (Call it So- 
cialism, Collectivism, Communism or whatever name you please) 
which threatens to impair or remove the eternal foundations of 
charity, justice and authority whereon society rests. 

1 * We hurl an eternal anathema against the nefarious agents 
who are propagating such systems by their speeches, their lit- 
erature, their associations, disseminating their anti-social and 
subversive doctrines, deceiving their unsuspecting victims into a 
social vortex by their delusive hopes of wealth and happiness. 
We denounce them as fiends of humanity whom society, for its 

[31] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

own salvation, should condemn to the dungeon or the gallows/' 

There you have it in plain terms. Dungeons and gibbets 
for the reformer. The stake and the fagot for the agnostic. 
Persecution and banishment for the believer in evolution. These 
so-called ministers of the gospel are as blind as bats. They are 
as void of reason as a stone. They are as empty of learning as a 
tin horn. They think and teach human depravity. They are 
an immense dead weight on the upward marching feet of man- 
kind, and all comes from the study of the Bible. They don't get 
it from "Tom Paine" or "Bob Ingersoll" nor from secular edu- 
cation or science. They don 't read or study these books. If they 
did, there might be some hope for them. But they are deaf, dumb 
and blind to all except the Bible. 

No wonder the world was dark when men, such as these, 
had power to enforce their doctrines. No wonder the world 
ran with the blood of martyrs for ten centuries. No wonder we 
have divorced church and state. No wonder we don't want the 
Bible in our schools. 

Have you ever been in a common Christian Sundayschool ? 
I suppose all of you have. What are they doing there ? Teach- 
ing the constitution of our country? No. Denying it. Teach- 
ing the Declaration of Independence ? No. Denying it. Teach- 
ing that Heaven is in love with good American citizenship ? No. 
Denying it. Teaching the freedom of thought? No. Denying 
it. Teaching the freedom of speech ? No. Denying it. Teaching 
the freedom of conscience? No. Denying it. Teaching that 
governments derive their power from the consent of the gov- 
erned? No. Denying it. Teaching the discoveries of science? 
No. Denying them. Teaching that human reason is the highest 
authority ? No. Denying it. The Bible teaches that the world 
is a wreck, and fit only to be burned up. 

I am a believer in evolution; and as this part of scientific 

[22] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

knowledge was particularly attacked, I wish to devote consider- 
able time to this subject. Also because on the truth or falsehood 
of evolution depends the rise or fall of the Bible. There is not 
the slightest shadow of doubt in my mind as to the truth of evo- 
lution, and I hope I shall be able to give evidence which will 
show you that my belief is not unfounded. 

Now it would seem that after all the mistakes the church 
has made in the past in her combat with science she would go 
easy in her denunciations of scientific demonstrations. But 
chickens always come home to roost, and so the church always 
opposes the light. When Galileo announced the motion of the 
earth around its axis, and around the sun, he was promptly 
cast into a dungeon ; and, if he had not recanted, he would have 
certainly lost his life. When Copernicus wrote his immortal 
work on the movements of the planets, he had to seek the shelter 
of secluded places ; and, if it had not so happened that a few of 
his books had been taken into other countries by his friends, his 
work would have been in vain, for the church ordered that it 
should be destroyed. When Columbus talked about sailing west 
and reaching India that way, he was considered insane. When 
Newton announced the laws of gravitation, he was branded by 
the church as a most dangerous infidel. When Thomas Paine 
wrote his "Age of Reason" and "Rights of Man," he was sland- 
ered and defamed ; and yet, if it had not been for that good and 
wise man, the war of the Revolution would have surely failed. 
And so, today, the church is busy reviling the names of the good 
and great who by independent research bring the secrets of na- 
ture to the knowledge and use of man. 

Charles Darwin — now, don't get excited when I mention 
that much-abused name. I am going to try and put a halo 
around that man's head before I get through tonight. Except- 
ing "Emerson's Essays," Darwin's "Origin of Species" is to- 

[*3] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

day the most widely read book in the literature of the world. 
Darwin was the chief discoverer of the law of evolution. Every 
department of our government, every public school, every nor- 
mal, every college, every university, recognizes and teaches this 
law as applied to the method of creation. It is a fact in nature 
and can in nowise be denied. 

The word evolution means to grow. To rise from a less 
perfect condition to a more perfect condition. From a lower to 
a higher condition. To develop. To unfold. Let me illustrate : 
Take our own little city. Go back fifty years and what have we ? 
A wilderness. The river, the valley, the sand hills, but no hu- 
man habitation. But the time comes when settlers arrive from 
the east, and south, and north, and west, and what was non-ex- 
istent comes into existence. A few settlers join together and or- 
ganize a town and call it Sterling. And Sterling begins to grow, 
to develop, to evolve, from a store and postoffice to what we know 
as a prosperous town of nearly two thousand people. Here we 
have the law of evolution as related to creation, not only of the 
town of Sterling, but every living thing. There is no sudden 
readymade method of creation. All things come by the same 
slow process of evolution. The power within the unit of the 
organization is the cause of its growth. Unit joins unit, and 
atoms are units of vegetable and animal forms, as men are 
units of towns, cities, states and nations. The same intelligence 
which combines men into organizations, organizes the atoms into 
grass, trees, or animal forms. The power is in the matter. 
Atomic intelligence or universal intelligence, which represents 
the Omnipresent God of theology, is the modern term by which 
this cause is designated. Every department of human and all 
other known life and activity responds to the law of evolution. 
Take any art or science, and it can be traced to its crude begin- 
ning and from that to its present state of development. Take 

[24] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

the art of printing. From the crude wooden fixture first used 
by Gutenberg, by slow additions and improvements through five 
centuries, we have now the magnificent machine with its immense 
and perfect capacities. Look at the world's postal and telegraph 
system. Look at navigation and transportation. Look at steam 
and electric power. Almost within a lifetime they have been 
developed from non-existence to their present high state of per- 
fection. History itself is but a few thousand years old. How it 
dwindles away and becomes lost! Prehistoric times are less 
than ten thousand years from us. And so with language, per- 
haps less than one hundred thousand years old. So with life. 
From the simplest forms, it has adapted itself through changes 
of conditions, and by natural selection developed into its present 
intricate and complex organization. 

The laws and forces by which this evolution takes place are 
well understood by all truly educated people. The very best 
description of the nature of life and its various functions I have 
ever read was an article in the New York Herald by Thomas A. 
Edison, and if there is any authority on this question, Thomas 
A. Edison ought to be one. 

Copernicus, by his study, gave us the laws of the heavenly 
bodies ; and, as we can by his system foretell the precise location 
of any planet hundreds of years in advance, so Mr. Edison has 
studied the molecules and found out just what they will do in 
any given condition. Therefore, I would rather believe the tes- 
timony of Thomas A. Edison on the subject of life and death 
than any other authority in the whole world. Here is what he 
says: 

"It is my belief that every atom of matter is intelligent. 
The intelligence of man is, I take it, the sum of the intelligences 
of the atoms of which he is composed. Every atom has an intelli- 
gent power of selection and is always striving to get into har- 

[25] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

monious relations with other atoms. The human body, I think, 
is maintained in its integrity by the intelligent persistence of its 
atoms, or, rather, by an agreement between the atoms so to per- 
sist. When the harmonious adjustment is destroyed, the man 
dies and the atoms seek other relations. 

"All matter lives and everything that lives possesses intelli- 
gence. Consider growing corn, for example. An atom of oxy- 
gen comes flying along the air; it seeks combination with other 
atoms and goes to the corn, not by chance, but by intention. It 
unites with other atoms and takes its place in the corn, where 
it can do its work. Very well, then, why does a free atom select 
any particular one out of fifty thousand or more possible posi- 
tions unless it wants to? I cannot see how we can deny intelli- 
gence to this act of volition on the part of the atom. To say that 
one atom has an affinity for another is simply to use a big word. 

"The atom is conscious if man is conscious; is intelligent 
if man is intelligent ; exercises will-power if man does ; is in its 
own little way all that man is. 

"I cannot avoid the conclusion that all matter is composed 
of intelligent atoms, and that life and mind are merely synonyms 
for the aggregation of atomic intelligence." 

I believe every word of this statement. The heart beats 
because it is intelligent enough to do so. The diaphragm ex- 
pands and contracts, because it is conscious of its work and of 
the fact that it is necessary to preserve the organization of which 
it is a part. Every atom is conscious enough to perform what 
is desired of it. Atoms enter the body in the food we eat and 
take their appointed positions, not by chance or by some ex- 
ternal power, but by their own inherent intelligence. By this 
intelligence, broken bones are knitted together, wounds and 
bruises are mended, diseases overcome and the body adapted to 

[26] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

requirements. And from this adaptation to requirements are 
derived the higher from the lower forms of life. 

I have evidence how forms are changed by this law on 
my own person. As many of you know, I am a carpenter. When 
I first began to work, owing to the constant pressure in handling 
saws and planes on the little finger of my right hand, it used to 
get sore ; but look what these intelligent atoms have done for me, 
supplied a cushion. You can distinguish the difference between 
my little fingers from a distance. You can see the cushion. 
Perhaps you will say it is a callous. Well, it does not matter 
what you call it. It is there. Who put it there? Natural se- 
lection. That same natural selection put the hoof on a horse's 
foot, a long neck on the giraffe, and the hump on the camel's 
back. It put extra soles on your feet when you were a barefooted 
boy. It puts muscle in the worker's arm and gray matter in 
your brain, if you use it. 

Here is an interesting proposition. Here are two hands, 
parts of the same organization, but there is a decided difference 
in these hands. The little finger is different on one hand than on 
the other. It is different not only in shape, but also in size. The 
little finger on the right hand is exactly one-half inch larger in 
circumference than on the left hand. Now here is the proposi- 
tion: How does it happen that these two fingers are different? 
Answer this question, and you answer the whole problem of the 
origin of species and the evolution of life. 

I invite and challenge any preacher in this or any other 
town to answer this question in an intelligent manner and deny 
that different conditions and different occupations will produce 
different fingers. And if these causes produce different fingers 
which in the presence of this hand none will dare deny, why not 
different arms, different legs, different bodies, different heads? 
If your " learned" preacher can prove that the difference be- 

[*7] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

tween these two fingers was caused by any other law than the 
law of adaption to the conditions or requirements, through nat- 
ural selection, then evolution is squelched, but if he fails to do 
this, then the preacher is squelched and evolution is in the saddle. 
With the evidence in favor of evolution contained in this cal- 
loused finger, I can confound all theology; and, with this espe- 
cially adapted and cushioned hand, I can squelch every preacher. 

The uninformed cannot understand this, but the student 
of science knows what I say is true. 

One of the chief associate factors in this development is 
the law of heredity. If my children and their children should 
work with the same tools for several generations, this callous 
or cushion would become a fixed and permanent part of their 
hand by the law of heredity. Not only are diseases inherited, 
but good characteristics as well. 

Garrett P. Serviss, in Cosmopolitan, says: "The mutation 
theory of Professor De Vries cannot stand in the light of Mr. 
Burbank's experiments; because, while that theory assumes that 
only at certain periods in the life of plants do sudden mutations, 
producing new species, take place, the experiments demon- 
strated that man can produce mutations whenever he wills it, 
and that mutation is not a period, but a state. The so-called 
Mendelian laws are proved by these experiments to be inade- 
quate, because they are found to apply only in a limited number 
of cases. Mr. Burbank's operations have been conducted on so 
gigantic a scale that, for breadth of view, he has the same advan- 
tage over other experimenters that one standing on the summit 
of a dominating mountain possesses over those who have climbed 
only to the top of a foothill. Finally, his experiments have 
proved the falsity of the doctrine that acquired characteristics 
are not transmitted. 9 ' 

And here is a lesson for the world to learn in the building 

[28] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

up of a superior human race. Medical science and social econ- 
omics are trying to arrest the terrible effects of this law in the 
inheritance of weak bodies and weak minds. What does the 
church do? It puts a tag on deformity, inscribed " Jesus died 
on a Cross/' and allows diseases, mental and physical, to multi- 
ply and increase from generation to generation without the least 
thought of consequences. 

In the system of evolutionary thought, all these important 
matters are taken into consideration and ways and means pointed 
out to relieve the world from the terrible results of the inheri- 
tance of diseases; and if there were no other reasons why we 
should adopt the evolutionary system of thought, this alone 
would be sufficient. 

I notice that some religious journals, in commenting on the 
San Francisco disaster, look upon it as a punishment sent by 
God. One writer in the Evangelical Messenger puts it this way : 
"Surely God has spoken in a fearfully earnest way to this 
wicked city. Will the people heed it? Some are beginning to 
think seriously. May thousands be brought to God by this fear- 
ful lesson that God is trying to teach this city. ' ' 

These people don't know the first letter about the universe. 
They don't know a mouse from an elephant in the economy of 
nature. They don't know the first syllable of human destiny. 
The terrible disaster which has left San Francisco and other 
California cities in ruins came from no capricious whim of Om- 
nipotence. It came from the same age-spanning forces which 
have been at work since the beginning. The same force which 
carries an express train at sixty miles an hour over the continent 
may under different conditions hurl a mountain into the sea, 
raise or lower the surface of the earth, according to the extent 
and power of the force. Boiling heat is less than a mile from the 
outside of the earth's crust. A sufficient quantity of water trans- 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

formed into steam could not only make the earth tremble, but 
could blow a hole in the crust of the earth a hundred miles in 
circumference and destroy not only one city but whole states 
and nations. The same breeze which runs the farmer's windmill, 
intensified, destroys not only the mill but a town or city. 
Earthquakes are a part of Nature's activity, the same as light- 
ning or the fall of an apple. The destruction of an ant-hill, 
the washout of a railroad, and the drowning of a city are caused 
by their particular relation to the force which brings about 
ruin. 

The same law by which the races of men came into exis- 
tence has lifted the mountains to their present form. In the 
evolution from a molten globe through which our earth is pass- 
ing, the upheaval of a mountain, or the sinking of an island into 
the sea, are natural incidents and need surprise no one. But 
man may defy even the most tragic of natural calamities. The 
dead by a hundred or a thousand only die one death each. And 
the healing in store for one is the healing for all. The dead do 
not weep. Their sorrow and pain are over, and for the ill and 
the famished and stricken, shelter and food were promptly pro- 
vided. Humanity is generous when a great crisis gives the op- 
portunity. Few persons wish to be selfish, no one wants to be 
cruel, all want to do right. All wish that no one should suffer. 
The awful fact that more people are suffering every day than 
were in need in San Francisco is not realized. There are no 
flashing head-lines about the thousands of poor and starving 
in our cities. New York 's hungry children, evicted families, un- 
employed men and child workers, make a tragedy more terrible 
than earthquake or fire. It has been good for the nation to have 
its blood set stirring so humanly warm. It shows what could be, 
if man were better educated and understood the conditions of 
his fellows better. But the same law of evolution which is adjust- 

[30] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

ing the surface of the earth to internal forces is at work among 
the children of men, and sooner or later the terrible abuses will 
be rectified and the conditions properly adjusted so that all shall 
be happy. 

Let all the people rise to free their land from its chronic 
miseries and its daily wrongs as they arose to the relief of one 
suffering city and there need be no poor, stunted and helpless, 
no toiling, suffering little children, no mothers bent with grief 
and sorrow. 

As the pent-up forces in the earth obtained relief by the 
dislocation of the earth, so the under man in society will, with 
a little more additional force, rend the social fabric and obtain 
the desired new and agreeable relations. For all wrongs and 
disturbances blame not God or man, but learn to understand the 
conditions which cause disaster and distress and by timely reg- 
ulation prevent the terrible consequences of eruptive conditions. 
Eemember also that this eruption of human society, unless the 
accumulating miseries are relieved, is as certain as the law of 
gravity, as inevitable as the law of evolution. 

I have now outlined the most important features of evolu- 
tion. But undoubtedly many of you are still inclined to doubt 
the reality of this great fact and I do not blame you. It takes 
time to see a new truth, and especially when it is held in dis- 
favor by an influential class in the community; but I wish to 
make my position as strong as I can and desire to call your at- 
tention to a number of testimonials from prominent sources. I 
will give you twelve testimonies, as follows: Two from liter- 
ature, two from common school textbooks, two from statesmen, 
two from educators, two from the press and two from the pul- 
pit. I will give the names of the writers and indicate by reading 
a few lines the idea of the author on evolution. But before 
doing this, I will read a paragraph from Charles Darwin 

[3i] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

containing in a condensed form his view of the origin of man. 
I read from the summary of the ' ' Descent of Man, ' ' as follows : 

"The main conclusion arrived at in this work, namely 
that man is descended from some lowly organized form, will, 
I regret to think, be highly distasteful to many. But there can 
hardly be a doubt that we are descended from barbarians. The 
astonishment I felt on first seeing a party of Fuegians on a wild 
and broken shore will never be forgotten by me, for the reflec- 
tion at once rushed into my mind — such were our ancestors. 
These men were absolutely naked and bedaubed with paint, 
their long hair was tangled, their mouths frothed with excite- 
ment, and their expression was wild, startled and distrustful. 
They possessed hardly any arts, and, like wild animals, lived on 
what they could catch ; they had no government, and were merci- 
less to every one not of their own tribe. He who has seen a 
savage in his native land will not feel much shame, if forced to 
acknowledge that the blood of some more humble creature flows 
in his veins. For my own part, I would as soon be descended 
from that heroic little monkey who braved his dreaded enemy 
in order to save the life of his keeper ; or from that old baboon, 
who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph 
his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs, as from a 
savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sac- 
rifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives 
like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest 
superstitions. 

"Man may be excused for feeling some pride at having 
risen, though not through his own exertions, to the very sum- 
mit of the organic scale ; and the fact of his having thus risen, 
instead of having been aboriginally placed there, may give him 
hope for a still higher destiny in the distant future. But we 
are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only with the truth 

[32] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

as far as our reason permits us to discover it. I have given the 
evidence to the best of my ability ; and we must acknowledge, as 
it seems to me, that man, with all his noble qualities, with sym- 
pathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which 
extends not only to other men, but to the humblest creature, 
with his godlike intellect which has penetrated into the move- 
ments and constitution of the solar system — with all these ex- 
alted powers — man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible 
stamp of his lowly origin. ' ' 

Thus has Charles Darwin concluded his immortal work on 
the "Descent of Man." To realize the importance of this book, 
it must be read. The logic of it is like the multiplication table. 
Almost every statement may be traced in the make-up of com- 
mon animal and vegetable life. It can be seen and fully under- 
stood by even a child. The geography of the earth is more com- 
plicated than that geography of life by which the higher forms 
have evolved from the lower. 

I now proceed with the evidence in favor of evolution — 
not exhaustive but representative. Beginning with literature, I 
have selected for first choice an extract from "The Destiny of 
Man," by John Fiske. I have not time to give biographies of 
these men, but will say that the works of John Fiske, both on 
history and science, are being used as textbooks in many of our 
common schools, colleges and universities. 

In the tenth chapter, under ' ' The Improvableness of Man, ' ' 
I read as follows : ' ' The creation of Man was by no means the 
creation of a perfect being." 

Here is an outright denial of the story of creation as re- 
lated in the Bible. 

"The most essential feature of Man is his improvableness, 
and since his first appearance on the earth the changes that have 
gone on in him have been enormous, though they have continued 

[33] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

to run along the lines of development that were then marked out. 
The changes have been so great that in many respects the inter- 
val between the highest and lowest men far surpasses quanti- 
tatively the interval between the lowest men and the highest apes. 
If we take into account the creasing of the cerebral surface, the 
difference between the brain of a Shakespeare and that of an 
Australian savage would doubtless be fifty times greater than 
the difference between the Australian's brain and that of an 
orang-outang. 

"In mathematical capacity the Australian, who cannot tell 
the number of fingers on his two hands, is much nearer to a lion 
or wolf than to Sir Rowan Hamilton. In moral development this 
same Australian, whose language contains no words for justice 
and benevolence, is less remote from dogs and baboons than from 
a Howard or a Garrison. In progressiveness, too, the difference 
between the lowest and highest races of men is no less conspic- 
uous. The Australian is more teachable than the ape, but his 
limit is nevertheless very quickly reached. All the distinctive 
attributes of man in short have been developed to an enormous 
extent through long ages of evolution. 

"It is only at the present day that, by surveying human 
history from the widest possible outlook, and with the aid of the 
habits of thought which the study of evolution fosters we are 
enabled distinctly to observe this tendency. As this is the most 
wonderful of all the phases of that stupendous revolution in na- 
ture which was inaugurated in the Creation of Man it deserves 
especial attention here; and we shall find it leading us quite 
directly to our conclusion. 

"From the origin of Man, when thoroughly comprehended 
in its general outlines, we shall at length be able to catch some 
glimpses of his Destiny. ' ' 

From the standpoint of Bible creation, the human race is 

[34] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

a stagnant pool. From the standpoint of evolution, it is a rip- 
pling rill. From the standpoint of Bible creation, man is on the 
down-grade. From the standpoint of evolution, there is glory 
and peace and comfort and splendor and life in its fullness. 

From the clod of the field up to George Washington, up and 
on to knowledge and power and goodness limited only by ever- 
lasting perfection. Think of a hundred thousand years of prog- 
ress like that of the last century! But you can't think of it; 
you only think of a system of calamities founded on the Bible ; 
a wrathful God, a cursed world and a human race destined to be 
burned forever. And you are afraid if you think differently 
than they did two thousand years ago, God will push you over 
the brink of hell into eternal agony and torture. What gloom and 
despair ! 

The next selection is from a work entitled "Achievements 
of the Nineteenth Century," and reads as follows: "The es- 
tablishment of the theory of evolution is generally conceded to 
be the scientific achievement of the age. It is the natural out- 
come of modern scientific research and speculation, proceeding, 
as it does, from the rapid advance of the physical sciences. Evo- 
lution has been defined as a natural history of the cosmos, in- 
cluding organic beings, expressed in physical terms as a me- 
chanical process. 

"Primarily evolution is the act of unfolding or unrolling or 
the process of growth, development, as a flower from a bud, or 
a bird from an egg. But the term has grown to have other and 
much larger meanings. It is applied to a system which under- 
takes to explain the existence of all things, inorganic and organic, 
physical and psychical, including the arts and institutions. 

"Geology takes our planet and shows how through millions 
of years, through gradual and natural agencies, sea and land, 
mountain and valley, strata and rocks, gravel and clay have 

[35] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

been formed; how fire and water and ice performed their part 
in this wonderful world-making and how kindred processes are 
going on all around us. She proves how life has existed on earth 
for untold ages, exhibiting relics of organic beings in rocky 
layers several miles in thickness In the lowest stratas, traces of 
only the lowest forms of life are found. Gradually the fossils 
of higher types appear. Fishes follow invertebrates, amphibious 
animals come after fishes, reptiles precede mammals, and last of 
all, appears man. 

"Biology studies these fossil forms and finds that the law 
of growth is from low to high, from simple to complex in ac- 
cordance with the general principle of evolution. 

"Anthropology shows man developing from a rude and un- 
tutored savage, covered with fur, with canine teeth and bestial 
habits, living on raw meat and uncooked roots which he dug 
from the earth with his hands — hiding from his enemies in a 
cave or roosting in the hollow of a tree, with no language save 
inarticulate cries of rage, pain or passion ; a creature compared 
to whom the bushman of South Africa or the Digger Indian of 
the West is a civilized human being. It shows the gradual 
growth of customs, institutions, arts and sciences, and the his- 
tory of races, nations and individuals, all conforming to the laws 
of evolution. ' ' 

The next department is that of the common school text- 
book. The first selection is from "Steele's Popular Geology, " a 
book used in almost every school in the country. Note in par- 
ticular what it says on the subject of life and death. No Gar- 
den of Eden in the philosophy of Steele's Geology. Plain and 
unvarnished evolution, as it may be found in the books of Darwin 
and John Fiske. I read : 

"Nowhere in the rock book of Nature do we read a page of 
quiet free from pain or death. From the beginning, the flesh- 

[36] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

eater preyed on the plant-eater and as now the weak succumbed 
to the strong. The struggle for existence began with its gift, 
and the reign of death was inaugurated by the enjoyment of 
life. Thus only can Nature preserve the equipoise between 
growth and decay, between the means of subsistence and the 
development of life. 

"We have beheld seas — vast watery deserts — become 
densely populated. We have traced the creative thought slowly 
advancing among the ruins of ages. The five types of structure 
have all been introduced and all except the vertebrates developed 
to their higher orders. The lower forms have one by one given 
place to the higher. We now pass over a chasm to where the 
distinctions stand out in bold relief. . . . 

"The paleozoic types fade away in the world's progress to 
its brighter future. As the stars sink one by one in the west 
and new stars rise in the east, to be succeeded by the dawn and 
then the day ; so, through the night of the past sank the old life 
forms, to be succeeded by the new, approaching nearer to the 
dawn of the day in whose morning we live." 

The next selection is from "Lessons in Astronomy/ 9 by 
Charles A. Young, professor of astronomy in Princeton College, 
another textbook which is almost universally used in the common 
schools. Professor Young says : " In a general way, we may say 
that the shrinkage of clouds of rarified matter into more com- 
pact masses under the forces of gravitation — the production of 
heat by this shrinkage — the effect of this heat upon the mass 
itself and upon the neighboring bodies, these principles cover 
nearly all the explanations that can thus far be given for the 
present condition of the heavenly bodies. . . . Now, this 
arrangement is certainly an admirable one for a planetary sys- 
tem, and therefore some have argued that the Deity constructed 
the system in that way from the first. But to one who considers 

[37] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

the way in which other perfect works usually attain their per- 
fection — their processes of growth and development — this ex- 
planation seems improbable. It appears far more likely that the 
planetary system was formed by growth than that it was built 
outright. Many circumstances go to show that the earth was 
once much hotter than it is now. If the sun continues its pres- 
ent rate of radiation and contraction, it must within 5,000,000 
or 10,000,000 years become so dense that its constitution will be 
radically changed. Its temperature will fall and its function as 
a sun will end. Life on earth, as we know life, will be no longer 
possible when he has become a dark, rigid, frozen globe. . . . 
The sun's past history must cover about 15,000,000 or 20,000,000 
years. ' ' 

How does this compare with the six-day creation and 6,000- 
year history of the Bible? Extracts like these can be extended 
indefinitely from textbooks on Chemistry, Biology, Botany, 
Geography, Physics, Zoology and others, but I have not time 
to mention them. 

The next department is that of statesmen, and first I will 
present a remarkable proposition from J. G. Schurman, who 
was appointed to perhaps the most responsible and intricate 
position held by any man in the history of the United States, 
namely, president of the Philippine commission, under McKin- 
ley. This appointment is evidence of the recognized worth of 
the man, and besides this honor, he is and has been for many 
years president of Cornell University. Surely the testimony of 
such a man ought to be of great value. 

President Schurman is reported to have said the following 
in connection with Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln: 
"Both were born February 12, 1809. These are the two greatest 
names of the century. In 1857, Darwin published the first out- 
line of a new theory of the Origin of Species, which was destined 

[38] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

to put him at the head of modern science ; and Lincoln delivered 
his famous ' Divided House ' speech, which made him two years 
later president of the United States.' ' Darwin and Lincoln — 
" These are the two greatest names of the century.' ' Here is 
honor for Darwin, genuine and unrestricted. Here is testimony 
that out-weighs and sets at naught the slander and calumny of 
the church of half a century. President Schurman honors Dar- 
win for his discovery of the Origin of Species and his scien- 
tific achievements, which is the demonstration of the law of evo- 
lution. 

The next selection is from Lyman J. Gage, secretary of the 
treasury under McKinley. Mr. Gage says: "Whatever may 
be the truth as to the order of creation and the story of our 
earth, whether they were the result of an imperial mandate under 
whose influence they stood forth, or whether developed by a slow 
evolutionary movement reaching over an unrecorded period of 
time, it is certain that since man came upon the scene his de- 
velopment of knowledge, industry and art has been along the 
line of a slow, upward movement." Mr. Gage goes on to show 
how agriculture, transportation, navigation, laws and consti- 
tutions, trade and commerce all came to their present state of 
perfection by the law of evolution. 

The next department is that of educators. It is difficult to 
choose from the teachers, for almost without exception they are 
believers in the law of evolution. I have already in the testi- 
mony of President Schurman represented the East, so in order 
to cover the whole country I will select in view of locality rather 
than personality. In the middle states we have Prof. Alexander 
Winchell, of the University of Michigan, who will lend himself 
very acceptably to our purpose. In his work entitled "Walks 
and Talks in the Geological Field," he leaves no doubt in the 
mind of the reader as to his position on evolution. And to show 

[39] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

that Professor Winchell is regarded as a conservative and repre- 
sentative man, I want to call attention to the fact that this book 
was read in the Chautauqua reading circles in 1890-1891 and 
was recommended by the Superintendent of Public Instruction 
of Colorado to be read in teachers' reading circles. I quote from 
the above-mentioned book under "The Human Factor/' as fol- 
lows: "We leani first of all that man is the fulfillment of the 
prophecies of the ages. The first step of organic progress lead 
toward man. . . . The paddle of the whale, the shovel of 
the mole, the clawed foot of the cat, the cloven foot of the ox, 
the solid foot of the horse, the wing of the bat — all are but 
modifications of the same bony elements, adjusted in the same 
way, but modified in relative development. All this was pro- 
phetic of man. 

"When the animal was to appear whose forward extremity 
was to rise above the simple function of locomotion and seizing 
of prey — an animal that should swing an implement of civili- 
zation, ply an oar, wield a pen, manipulate a needle, make a 
watch, play a violin, emphasize thought by a gesture, execute 
the behests of intelligence rather than of appetite and passion — 
then, assuredly, a different and nobler plan of structure must be 
devised. No, it is the same old plan. All these resources existed 
potentially in the clumsy fin of the fish. Thus is man related 
to the plans of the present ; thus to a plan which has persisted 
for millions of years ; and thus was man all the time anticipated 
and approached, during the progress of the transformations 
wrought by the ages. ' ' 

The same story comes from the far West. Professor LeConte, 
of Stanford University is emphatic in his declaration for evolu- 
tion. Here is an extract from one of his numerous works : "We 
are confident that evolution is absolutely certain. As a law of 
continuity, as a universal law of becoming, it is not only cer- 

[40] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

ginning to curl up on her bows. She has now gained the open 
sea. The signal is given, " Ahead full speed. " Every nerve is 
in a quiver. From the officer in charge comes the announce- 
ment, "Ten knots and gaining." The men watch the gain and 
speak of the working parts and ask, Will they come up to ex- 
pectations? Fifteen knots and gaining. Everybody smiles and 
talks of the especial virtues of this or that part, but will she win 
out is still the great question. Eighteen knots an hour and still 
gaining. Scattering shouts are heard and the excitement grows. 
Nineteen knots and still gaining. Now a mighty roar of voices 
mingles with the swish and rush of the great ship, but dies into 
breathless silence, but only for a moment. From the bridge 
comes the glad message, "Twenty knots and still gaining." 
Now pandemonium breaks loose, and amid a babel of con- 
gratulations cheer after cheer rents the air. The stoker and 
the engineer embrace and still she gains, twenty-one knots, 
yes, twenty-two. The work of man is a success and a glory to 
its maker. 

But the work of God. How about that? Did it stand the 
test ? Did it come up to expectations ? No. It failed. Instead 
of joy and gladness there is cursing and misery, repentance and 
destruction. 

Ah, friends, what a pitiful scene ! What a pitiful God ! 

That scene never took place. 

It is only a fable. It is only a fiction. It is theology. 

They say the writer of this story was a Jew. Jews sometimes 
stretch the truth till it cracks, and besides I know of a Jew who 
calls this Bible story a fable ; and if I have to believe a Jew in 
this matter, I would rather believe one who is a modern college 
professor than one who burned sheep and cattle to please his 
God, and who ordered mothers with infants at their breasts to be 
hacked to pieces with swords. Let me read to you a few lines 

[45] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

from an article by Angela Morgan, in the Chicago American. 
I read: 

" 'The place described in the Bible as the Garden of Eden 
never existed. Adam and Eve are mere names. As real per- 
sonalities, they never lived. The stories of so-called miracles 
in the Old Testament scriptures are legends. That is all.' 

"With that statement Dr. Emil G. Hirsch, rabbi of the 
Sinai Temple and of Temple Israel, in an interview summar- 
ized his beliefs regarding that part of the Bible which deals 
with supposed supernatural occurrences. Dr. Hirsch is known 
throughout the United States as one of the most scholarly stu- 
dents and keenest thinkers of America. He is almost without 
a rival for intellectual leadership of the Jewish race in this 
country. Two or three years ago he was offered a princely sal- 
ary to leave Chicago and become a rabbi of the wealthiest Jewish 
synagogue in New York City. He declined it promptly, giving 
it only sufficient thought to show due deference to the men who 
made him the flattering offer. Dr. Hirsch in his utterances on 
all important public topics has gained a reputation for cath- 
olicity, conservatism, for tolerance and moderation in his views. 
He is not an iconoclast or cynic or shatterer of faiths. So his 
utterances on the subject of the Bible cannot be dismissed as the 
words of one who speaks ill-advisedly or without due delibera- 
tion. His opinions are the fruit of years of scholarly effort, and 
while other scholars may not all agree with him, none can deny 
deference to his opinion. He is one of the most highly esteemed 
members of the faculty of Chicago University. i There never 
was a Garden of Eden/ he said. 'Adam and Eve as personali- 
ties never did exist. No tree of knowledge ever grew. There was 
no apple eaten whereby mankind was plunged into sin. Indeed, 
man has never fallen. He was imperfect to begin with and has 
steadily improved with the centuries. Bible stories of super- 
natural occurrences are most of them fables.' " 

[46] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

"Following are some of the subjects of some of the Bible 
stories Dr. Hirsch classifies as allegories or mere legends: 

"David and Goliath, 

"Daniel in the Lion's Den, 

"The Budding of Aaron's Rod, 

"Noah and the Ark, 

"Samson's Hair, 

"Jonah and the Whale, 

"Lot's Wife and the Pillar of Salt, 

"The Three Men in the Burning Furnace, 

' ' The Children of Israel Going Through the Red Sea. ' ' 

So I say, if I have to choose between Moses who burned 
sheep and oxen in his religious ebullitions and at the same time 
ordered his soldiers to kill everything that breathed, and a 
Chicago professor, I take the professor. 

There never was a fall, and without a fall the Bible has 
lost its head. The story of the ten commandments is an imposi- 
tion. They never originated on Mt. Sinai. The majority were 
in existence long before that time. Why did Moses leave Egypt 
after it had become known that he had killed an Egyptian? Be- 
cause he was afraid of the penalty that was fixed to the law: 
"Thou shalt not kill." Why was Joseph cast into prison? Be- 
cause he was considered guilty of committing adultery. There 
certainly was a law against adultery even then. Why did the 
brothers of Joseph fear and tremble when they were taken back 
to Egypt accused of stealing? Surely there must have been a 
law against stealing. 

The commandment relating to the establishment of the 
Sabbath is false, for the Creator never created the world in 
six days, nor rested on the seventh. 

"Honor thy father and mother that you may live long." 

[47] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

The faithful son may die today, while the prodigal may live 
for years. 

"Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." That means, 
in other words, Thou shalt be a Jew and worship according to 
the forms of the Jewish religion. 

Take the Sermon on the Mount. If that is the criterion 
by which to identify a Christian the species has long since be- 
come extinct. Show me the man who when stricken on one 
cheek turns the other, or when his coat has been taken gives his 
cloak, or who takes no thought for the morrow, or who loves 
his enemies. The first law of life is self-preservation. The man 
who would slap your face would kick your head off if there 
were no law to prevent him. The man who would take your 
coat would take your shirt — everything. 

"Love your enemies." Don't you do it. It is all right 
for Grant to be good to Lee at Appomattox, but never at Rich- 
mond. It is the duty of Grant to hurl his biggest shells and 
crush the enemy. It is a case of self-defense, a matter of life 
and death. Only when the enemy surrenders or arbitrates is it 
possible for Grant to exercise love, and even then he must be on 
his guard for treachery. 

"Take no thought for the morrow." The man who takes 
no thought for the morrow will beg and starve. 

"Judge not." What have we got our reason for but to 
judge ? 

"Sell all you have and give it to the poor." Do you want 
your boys and girls to live up to these things? You don't live 
up to them yourselves. Why don't you? Until I see people 
practice these things, I shall consider that they don't believe 
them. These are the things in which the teaching of the 
Christian religion differs from other religions. 

"If ye love those who love you, what reward have you? 

[48] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

tain, but axiomatic. Far back in the dark past there was a 
time when fishes were the only representatives of the vertebrate 
plan of structure or this machine was adapted only to locomo- 
tion in water. It was a swimming machine. Ages on ages pass 
until the time was ripe and the earth was prepared, and reptiles 
were introduced. Now we have a new function, that of locomo- 
tion on land. The same organ which w^as a swimming organ be- 
fore, by certain modifications, becomes a crawling organ. . . . 
Ages on ages pass and the birds are introduced. Another new 
function — that of locomotion in air. The same organ is again 
modified and becomes the wing of a bird. . . . 

Ages on ages pass and man is introduced. Now we want a 
hand. But Nature 's laws are not violated even for man. In the 
hand of a man, in the forefoot of the quadruped, in the paw of a 
reptile, in the wing of a bird, in the fin of a fish, the same organ 
is modified for various purposes/' 

The next department is that of the press. The first selection 
is from The Denver Republican as follows : 

"In 1800 Geology was little more than a name. Geologists 
have taught us that the last 6,000 years are nearer the evening 
than the morning of the human race. Human handiwork and 
human remains have been found in the strata extending from 
30,000 years ago back to the very dawn of the world. 

"The theory of evolution may be said to be the vital scien- 
tific force of the nineteenth century, and it will doubtless be the 
foundation of many important discoveries in the twentieth. In 
1809 the naturalist Lamarck propounded a theory that all an- 
imals had been developed from living minute particles. Buff on 
held the same opinion. In 1827 Ernest Von Baer demonstrated 
that every mammal is developed from a minute egg not a hun- 
dreth of an inch in diameter. Then came Charles Darwin, and 

[41] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

the careful investigations of half a century have not shaken his 
theory of evolution, but have established it on a sound basis. ' ' 

The second selection is from the Colorado Springs Gazette: 
"The boundary is set aside, too, in the century's answer to the 
problem of life on the earth. The theory of evolution, the trans- 
mutation of one species from another by adding characteristics, 
and the common origin in one original form, advanced by Lam- 
arck, has satisfied men's minds since Charles Darwin, in 1863 
in his ' Origin of Species by Natural Selection,' demonstrated 
the variations of species and pointed out their causes. It has 
become impossible to believe in a special creation of man, a be- 
lief against which the geologists as well have accumulated evi- 
dence. The theory of cataclysmal changes in the earth's sur- 
face has been abandoned. In the past, as in the present, changes 
were gradual and must have gone on through eons of time; the 
fossil animal, whose remains are found in the rocks, died out 
as species die nowadays." 

The next and last department is the pulpit, and I am glad 
that even in the pulpit the law of evolution has become to some 
extent an accepted fact. In a work entitled "Evolution and 
Christianity," by B. F. Tefft, D. D., the writer, in giving an 
account of a dinner given to Herbert Spencer, says this: "The 
climax of the great philosopher's sojourn was a dinner at Del-, 
monico 's. It was there that William M. E varts bowed in humble 
acknowledgement of his acceptance of the Darwinian doctrine, 
Professor Sumner maintaining that it was no longer a theory, but 
a scientific truth. Professors Marsh and Fiske gave their ad- 
hesion to the novel science. Carl Schurz and Ex-Secretary 
Bristow nodded assent to every word of praise pronounced upon 
the teachings of the distinguished advocate of evolution. 

"More than two hundred American gentlemen taking chairs 
at the tables were representative citizens. Showing the drift of 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

public opinion, Mr. Beecher went so far as to make the state- 
ment that he was willing to be regarded as having personally 
descended from the monkey, provided he could be sure of 
having descended far enough/ ' 

Aye, aye, there is the rub. Most preachers are like the cat 
let out of a bag. They haven't discovered their bearings. The 
wool and dust of Bible times are still in their eyes and the light 
of science cannot penetrate their clouded vision, and they retire 
into the cave and jungle of their unenlightened progenitors. 
But some have come out into the open far enough to see and ac- 
knowledge their true relation to the world. 

The closing selection is from a sermon by Bayard Craig, 
D. D., LL. D., of the Central Christian Church, Denver, Colo., 
and I want to say in reference to this selection that it is a beau- 
tiful one and one that makes the religion of evolution most 
promising and hopeful. Dr. Craig says: "In wishing to start 
the New Year with the best possible advantage, in desiring to 
make the New Year a better one than the old, we but obey 
a law that works through all nature, an instinctive relentless 
tendency toward improvement. The unquenchable yearning 
for perfection. The eternal yearning toward the higher and 
better. It is the throbbing of this hopeful heart of the universe 
that brought our solar system from the star dust to what it is 
today ; that has brought the forms of life from the simplest be- 
ginning to a crowning achievement in man — self-conscious, his- 
tory-making, prophetic, divine humanity. This is the very soul 
of evolution. ' ' 

And to this we say in the old-fashioned way, Amen. 

We now come back to the main question, "Why we don't 
want the Bible in our schools?" and answer without hesitation,, 
because it is scientifically untrue. If evolution is true and, as 
far as I am concerned, it seems to be the only conclusion I can 

[43] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

form after considering the evidence ; and therefore I can do but 
one thing, and that is, accept the consequence. And what is 
that? The foundation of the whole scheme of the Bible falls 
away. There never was a fall and consequently there is no need 
for a redemption. 

Now I am glad that there never w r as a fall. I am glad that 
the Creator never made man and then cursed him as a bad job. 
I never could understand how a wise and good Creator could 
contrive such a silly piece of work. I always did contend that 
a being possessed of perfect knowledge, power and goodness 
never made a poor investment and from every act of eternal 
wisdom nothing but beauty and beneficence can result. That 
story in Genesis is an insult to intelligence, a calumny on powder, 
a prostitution of goodness. 

Our government wants a battleship, — a mighty Man of 
War, of 15,000-ton capacity. The proper officials call for plans 
and specifications, and choose the desired type of ship, advertise 
for bids and let the contract. The contractor calls his lieuten- 
ants and master and says: "Let us make a Man of War." 
Human hands and ingenuity are set at work. Not divine hands, 
but mere human hands. Piece by piece and part by part, the 
details are worked out and put together. By and by the monster 
slides into the ocean and the day for trial is at hand. Officers, 
contractors and workers are thrilled with excitement. Will 
she come up to expectations? The funnels pour forth black 
clouds of smoke and down in the bowels of the great Man of War 
the hissing steam conveys the notice that the "breath of life" 
has been blown in. The signal comes from above, "Ahead." 
The engines begin to thump, the propellers churn the ocean and 
ahead she goes. But that is only the beginning of the test. 
She must make 20 knots an hour. Will she do it? That is the 
great question. But she is gaining speed and the foam is be- 

[44] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

taining this we shall render a service above every song and praise 
service we can possibly render. 

I believe in intelligence. I believe in industry. I believe 
in good houses, good clothes and good food. That is my relig- 
ion. 

It is vastly more important to know how to live than how to 
die. It is more important to have good food and good clothes than 
Bibles and preachers. To know the multiplication table is 
better than to know any theology in the world. 

I believe in the religion of water and soap. A bath with 
brush and towel is a thousand times better than any baptism. 
I believe in the religion of labor. To prepare the ground and 
sow an acre of wheat is better than all the ceremonies and prayers 
from Abraham to Alexander Dowie. 

I believe in the religion of love. 

To build a home is better than building churches and to 
love your wife and children is better than loving any Grod. 

I believe in the religion of science. To discover a new fact 
is better than any sacrament and to doubt a saint is better than 
believing a theory. I believe in the religion of asking questions. 
The establishment of facts and the demonstration of truth is 
the only lever for raising mankind. Knowledge is the power 
which is saving the world. 

I believe in the religion of liberty, — in giving to others the 
same rights which we claim for ourselves. 

There is room for as many religions as there are faces and 
none need trespass on another's territory. Let us be intelligent. 
Let us have understanding. Let us cultivate the power to put 
ourselves in other people's places. Let us be liberal. Let us 
be just. 

Soon men will find that creeds are but the emblems of nar- 
row and dark plots. 

[53] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

Soon we will find that to consider those not of our faith 
as lost or wicked will put the brand of ignorance and bigotry 
on our own foreheads. 

Soon we will find that by denying to others the rights 
which we claim for ourselves we will assassinate our own lib- 
erties. 

Soon we will find that we cannot steal without robbing 
ourselves and that only the man who does wrong carries a bur- 
den. 

AND I BELIEVE, TOO, IN GOD — GOD THE MO- 
TIVE FORCE OF THE ATOM AND OF CONSTELLA- 
TION. GOD THE PERFECTION, THE IDEAL OF 
WISDOM, LOVE AND POWER. 

What are the designs of such a God? What are the de- 
signs of perfect wisdom ? What are the designs of perfect love ? 
What are the designs of perfect power? Universal beauty, peace 
and happiness. 

That we are immortal is probable, because not an atom of 
matter has been known to be destroyed. Nothing shall be lost. 

The condition in which our substance shall exist after death 
is a matter to be discovered by science. That it will be in 
harmony with the wise and good Creator and that it will be as 
happy as it can be, of this I am very certain. 

Whatever truth may come to me of that mysterious bourne 
from which no traveler has ever returned, I shall cherish, but 
that there is a single soul on the other side suffering because 
of his religion or the prayer he did not speak, or for the cere- 
monies he did not perform, I do not believe. 

I have made up my mind that all is well with the world. I 
look out into the skies on a clear night, and with the wings of 
light I travel at the rate of 190,000 miles a second and in 36 
hours I arrive at the nearest fixed star twenty billion miles away. 

[54] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

I take the same wings of light and travel for a million years and 
I arrive approximately at the farthest star so far discovered. 

Beyond that other constellations and milky ways twinkle 
just like our own. And in all this vast array of suns and worlds, 
thousands of them in the spaces without center, or circumference, 
every one and all of them together are in perfect order. Noth- 
ing out of place in the heavens. The fixed stars and the milky 
way ; the suns and the planets ; all in a harmony with the univer- 
sal chorus. And our earth, too. Eternal wisdom is her guard- 
ian. All, all is well. The continents and the oceans ; the plains 
and the mountains ; the hills and the valleys ; the springs and the 
rivers; the birds and the flowers; animal life and vegetable 
life and man — all, all in harmony with the plan of the Infinite. 
Not a grain of sand, not a drop of water, not a human soul in 
vain or out of place. By and by we shall see into the ultimate 
design of the All- Wise. Science and education will teach us ; and, 
meanwhile, we will trust and labor "With malice toward none, 
with charity for all and with firmness in the right as God (or 
experience) gives us to see it." 



[55] 



BOOK II 

LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS 
AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

This comparison contains but a limited number of the var- 
ious traditions claimed to be of divine origin by Christianity. 
Almost every phase of the Christian religion has its counter- 
part in the philosophies of the heathen world. The selections 
from Socrates are taken from Plato's Apology, Crito and Phae- 
do of Socrates. Translated by Henry Cary, M. A., and pub- 
lished by David McKay, Philadelphia. 

The comparison might be extended indefinitely and other 
philosophers cited as divine as Socrates, but enough is included 
to convince any reasonable person that the claim of Christianity 
as a special revelation is a pretense and an imposition. A rea- 
sonable person will acknowledge and give due credit to the 
great Greek; and when one considers that his high meditations 
were prior by over 400 years to the Christian religion, common 
sense ought to prefer the work of the Greek philosopher; be- 
cause his teachings were his own, while the teachings of Jesus 
and Christianity are likely mere imitations. 

If Jesus and Paul were ignorant of Socrates, they were not 
greater than he was. If, on the other hand, they were acquainted 
with his teachings, which is very probable, they fall far below him 
in greatness. 

It has been claimed by hundreds of the best informed peo- 
ple that the Christian religion is framed almost to the letter 
from the speculations of heathen philosophers. Among the many 
who make this assertion, Thomas Jefferson has put himself on 
record in no uncertain terms. In referring to what is now 

[56] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

Do not the Publicans the same?" And don't Pagans pray and 
perform ceremonies? And don't they practice all the common 
virtues? Everything just the same as Christians except these 
singular precepts. And I find that they are completely ignored, 
and therefore say that there are no Christians in our time. 

"Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name ye shall receive.'' 
If some one only would have thought of that while the flames 
were eating the heart out of San Francisco, how easily the city 
might have been saved ! When Vesuvius went into eruption 
and the lava began to flow in the direction of a certain town 
some of the people went up the mountain and planted a cross 
between the city and the stream of lava, thinking it would save 
their city. If a man had gone up the mountain with a pin cush- 
ion and tried to stop the mouth of the volcano the effect would 
have been the same. Not so much as a crumb of bread has ever 
been obtained by the mere asking for it. The beggar may re- 
ceive a crust, but some one had to pay the price to Nature in 
sweat and labor. There is no short cut to the benefits of life 
and there is no forgiveness for sins. The scars and memories 
remain. All this babbling about the forgiveness of sin is a sham 
and a delusion. Put your foot in the fire and just to the extent 
of the burning will the scar remain. No forgiveness. Eternal 
and exact justice. Neither confession or sacrament will as 
much as blot out a single evil thought. Neither blood nor tears 
will wash away a single stain. 

What you sow you must reap. There is no release. This 
is the truth. For a more comprehensive delineation of this 
law read Emerson's essay on Compensation. There is no es- 
cape from the full consequence of our mistakes. They follow 
us into the grave. Jesus Christ lost his life because of his 
follies. Had he resisted and properly defended himself he 
might have saved his life, but he allowed his enemies to get 

[49] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

the best of him and they nailed him to the cross. There is 
not a sane man who believes in this principle today. Roose- 
velt wants a bigger navy and more forts; cities want better 
protection against hold-ups and all kinds of criminals. The ex- 
ample of Jesus in almost every department of life is false. He 
founded no home. He reared no family. He did not provide 
for himself or anybody else. He lived a life of poverty and 
died the death of disgrace. He taught faith in God yet cried 
out in despair, " Father, let this cup pass from me," and "My 
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me." He taught that 
men should love their enemies and declared that God would tor- 
ture his in all eternity. He upset the tables of the money 
changers, yet praised the man who won money by gambling. He 
said "Judge not," yet called his fellow-citizens "snakes and 
vipers." There is no use to hide these things. If they are 
wrong and impracticable today, they were wrong and imprac- 
ticable then and will always be to the end of time. 

But the greatest calamity, if the Bible is true, is in the 
statement that there is but "one name given by which man can 
be saved." If that declaration is true, what has become of the 
billions who died and never heard of that name? What has 
become of the black, the red, the brown and the yellow races who 
never heard of that name? What has become of the Pharaohs 
and the Caesars with all their hosts ? What has become of Han- 
nibal and Alexander and their hosts? What has become of 
Homer and Horace, of Phidias and Euripides, Socrates and Plato ; 
Aristides the Just and Aristotle the Wise, Demosthenes and Di- 
ogenes, Seneca and Cicero, Gautama and Confucius, Epictetus 
and Marcus Aurelius? What has become of the Philistine and 
the Spartan? There is but one answer if the Bible is true: 
They are wailing and gnashing their teeth in everlasting tor- 
ments. 

[50] 



UNCLE SAM'S RELIGION 

We don't want the Bible in the public school because it 
teaches this inconceivable horror. We don't want the Bible in 
the schools because it makes of the Creator the most fiendish 
and cruel monster that can possibly be imagined. According 
to the Bible, an infinite God cursed His own children and 
drowned them like rats. According to the Bible this infinite 
God sent disease and pestilence among the Egyptians and ser- 
pents among the Israelites. According to the Bible, this God 
commanded the Israelites to steal and commit the most barbaric 
crimes. In the service of this God, David sacrificed seven sons 
of Saul. In the service of this God, Elijah slaughtered 400 
priests, In the service of this God, Jehu murdered seventy sons 
of Ahab and ordered Jezebel to be cast into the street, and when 
she had fallen drove over her body and left her lie for the dogs to 
eat. Fine lessons in human kindness and religious tolerance ! 
Fine lessons in morality, these! In the service of this God, 
the church has slaughtered millions. 

But the world is awakening and the Bible is not quite as 
sacred as it once was. The creeds are being revised and it will 
not be long before all religious activity shall obtain its authority 
from the light of reason and common sense. 

The adherents to the theory of the Bible as an infallible 
authority have come to no definite agreement. We see divi- 
sions of all dimensions and of all kinds of views. The Catholics, 
Protestants, Mormons, Christian Scientists and Zionists all be- 
lieve in the same Bible, but hate each other with a more contemp- 
tible and impassioned fierceness than any other class of men 
in the whole world. 

And what prospect is there for a union of these churches ? 

The brotherhood of man is an utter impossibility in the 
light of Bible authority. How long will it be until the Pope 

[5i] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

and Brigham Young will sit down to the Lord's Supper to- 
gether ? 

Figure that out and you will find when the "Kingdom" 
will come. And, what is more, if the Kingdom should ever 
come, with Jesus the King in power, what would become of free 
religion, free speech and government founded on the consent 
of the governed? Do the churches founded on Jesus Christ be- 
lieve in any of these principles? I don't think so. 

They preach theories and demand, on penalty of eternal 
damnation, the silence of all tongues and the bending of all 
knees. 

How different when men come together under the banner 
of pure reason and base their conclusions on facts as they find 
them in Nature instead of on theories which they cannot com- 
prehend. 

The Bible has been tried and found wanting. It belongs 
to an age of ignorance and superstition. It knows nothing of 
the progress of the last two thousand years, and it is said that 
"Time's noblest offspring is the last." The knowledge of our 
time is the truest and best. Let us consult the best. Let us 
remember that where is most experience is greatest wisdom. 
Let us take care of our bodies, and our souls will take care of 
themselves. Let us think of better and brighter homes for the 
poor. Let us think of more health, more beauty, more justice, 
more comfort. I believe the time is not far away when public 
opinion will be so enlightened that it will be looked upon as 
vicious to perpetuate disease and poverty. We should put flow- 
ers of health and sunshine into the lives of our children. It is our 
duty to secure them against the uncalled-for slavery and fright- 
ful abuses to which thousands are constantly subjected. Secur- 
ity against ignorance. Security against idleness. Security 
against want. This is the demand of the present, and in ob- 

[52] 



LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

known as the Jefferson Bible, he says : " It is a document in proof 
that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of Jesus, 
very different from the Platonists, who call me infidel and them- 
selves Christians and preachers of the Gospel, while they draw 
all their characteristic dogmas from what its author never said 
or saw. They have compounded from the heathen mysteries a 
system beyond the comprehension of man, of which the great re- 
former of the vicious ethics and deism of the Jews, were he to 
return on earth, would not recognize one feature.' ' 

That Jefferson was a Christian according to the views of 
any orthodox church is impossible from the fact that he did not 
accept the Bible as divine or inspired, nor did he believe in the 
divinity of Jesus. To attempt the reconstruction of the Bible 
as he did is the best evidence that he believed it corrupt and 
vicious, or he could not have considered a reconstruction nec- 
essary. 

He calls the preachers Platonists ; because, as he said, they 
preach not the doctrines of Jesus, but rather the doctrines and 
dogmas of Plato. Now, in this, Mr. Jefferson seems to me in- 
consistent; for, as will be seen in the comparison, the very best 
precepts ascribed to Jesus even by Jefferson may all be found in 
the meditations of Socrates. In the catalogue of high moral 
principles, the precept "Recompense evil with good" is perhaps 
the highest, and this is fully set forth in the comparison in Art. 
9 under "Moral Duties." What is known as the "Golden Rule" 
is of a less self -forgetting quality than this; and while neither 
of them is under all conditions practicable, they may be re- 
garded as the climax of heroic conduct. 

It follows that if the church from its earliest history has 
adopted from the heathen world its doctrines and institutions 
(which it has, as is well known, with regard to Sunday, Easter 
and Christmas, all of which are heathen holidays christianized), 

[57] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

then Jesus was the first imitator and all the others followed his 
example. 

There is, however, a striking phase in which both Jesus and 
the church disagree with the great Greek. The unconditional 
demand of Jesus is at all times, Do as I say or be damned. Op- 
pose me and be cursed. The unreasonableness of such a posi- 
tion must be evident to all, but as long as men in general were 
ignorant of the world's storehouse of "scriptures," the imposi- 
tion could be successfully enforced. 

However, let a man once know of the high moral and ethi- 
cal meditations of the despised and unloved heathen (on the 
part of orthodox Christians), the selfishness of Christianity 
at once becomes the dagger that bids fair to become the most 
powerful instrument in its downfall. And truly, the person 
or institution announcing himself or itself as altogether beyond 
the possibility of either being mistaken or subject to any im- 
provement, is to say the least immodest, and in our time and 
day mighty unpopular. 

Consider the nobility of Socrates in this connection. And 
let me say that this is the recognized position of all honor and 
love of truth. 

"To affirm positively, indeed, that these things are exactly 
as I have described them does not become a man of sense/ ' 

Now hear Jesus: "Heaven and earth shall pass away but 
my word shall not pass away. ' ' Or " He that believeth not shall 
be damned.' ' 

Notice also the generosity and nobility of Socrates in the 
way he addressed his fellows; how American and just, and how 
un-American the address of Jesus: "Woe unto you, scribes and 
Pharisees, hypocrites. ' ' "0 generation of vipers.' ' Now hear 
Socrates : "0 best of men, I honor and love you. ' ' 

Now while many of the doctrines of Socrates are untrue and 

[58] 



LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

even grossly superstitious, yet his redeeming feature is the rec- 
ognition of his liability to error and his fairness in giving the 
right to other men to doubt his views and to oppose him with all 
their might. 

It has been said that the first step in the acquisition of wis- 
dom is the acknowledgement of one's fallibility; and only fools, 
knaves and imposters will claim infallibility for themselves. 

Let each man be fully convinced of his position, but put 
no barrier across the pathway of progress by prohibiting under 
the penalty of fearful tortures the free exercise of reason and 
manly common sense. 

The relative position of Jesus and Socrates may be fitly il- 
lustrated by two stair builders. It so happened that in both 
cases the details were somewhat obscure as to the number of 
steps required. They both began to lay off the long and costly 
stringers that must reach to the landing above. But after much 
study there still remained a doubt as to the exact number of 
steps. And one of the men said: "I will not cut these valuable 
timbers until I can obtain fuller information. I will prepare 
the steps and risers and will wait for the master to decide on 
this important matter for fear I might be mistaken and ruin the 
whole work." 

The other said: "I will risk my opinion in this matter 
against all comers, ' ' and off goes the stringer. 

But alas, when the master came and made measurements, 
it was found that the stringers lacked several steps from reach- 
ing the landing and the man who thought himself perfect lost 
both his position and his reputation. But the man who knew his 
fallibility and waited and worked on the steps and risers until 
the master came and corrected the details, reached the landing 
and was rewarded and praised, and his reputation as a stair 
builder was 6ecure. 

[59] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

So with Jesus and so with Socrates. Jesus set himself 
against all comers. He said his decision must not be questioned 
and cursed the man and the people who would question it, but 
the master (Science) must sooner or later declare his work 
a failure and his position and reputation lost. 

Socrates, on the other hand, admitted that he might be mis- 
taken. And his wisdom and his method is the only true wisdom 
and the only right method. 

THE DIVINE COMMISSION. 
ARTICLE I. 

Socrates B. C. 400 Years. 

1. I am a person who has been given to this city by the 
Deity (God). Ap. (Apology) 18. 

Jesus. 
\ 1. I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I 
of myself, but he that sent me. John 8-42. 

Socrates. 

2. The Deity (God) assigned it as my duty to pass my life 
in the study of philosophy. Ap. 17. 

Jesus. 

2. I have not spoken of myself; but the Father (God) which 
sent me, he gave me a commandment what I should say and what 
I should speak. John 12-49. 

Socrates. 

3. I go about and search and inquire unto these things in 
obedience to the God. Ap. 9. 

Jesus. 
3. I must work the works of Him (God) that sent me. 
John 9-4. 

[6o] 



LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

Socrates. 
4. Athenians: I honor and love you but I shall obey 
God rather than you. Ap. 17. 

Jesus. 

4. For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will 
but the will of him (God) that sent me. John 6-38. 

Socrates. 

5. But this duty, as I say, has been enjoined me by the 
Deity (God) by oracles, by dreams, and by every mode by which 
any other divine decree has ever enjoined anything on man to do. 
Ap. 22. 

Jesus. 

5. The works which the Father (God) has given me, the 
same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father Bent 
me. John 5-36. 

Socrates. 

6. I am far from making a defense on my behalf; but I do 
so on your own behalf, lest by condemning me you should of- 
fend at all with respect to the gift of the Deity (God) to you. 
Ap. 18. 

Jesus. 
6. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. I 
seek not mine own will but the will of my Father (God) which 
sent me. John 5-30, 31. 

THE DIVINE RECALL. 

ARTICLE II 

Socrates B. C. 400. 
1. I go first of all among other Deities (Gods) who 
are both wise and good. Ph. (Phaedo) 19. 

[6i] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

Jesus. 

1. I go away and come again unto you. I go unto the 
Father (God); for my Father is greater than I. John 14-28. 

Socrates. 

2. That, however, I shall go among the Gods, who are 
perfectly good masters, be assured I can positively assert this. 
Ph. 19. 

Jesus. 

2. A little while and ye shall not see, because I go to 
the Father (God). John 16-16. 

Socrates. 

3. The gods take care of us, and we men are one of their 
possessions. Ph. 16. 

Jesus. 

3. I came forth from the Father and am come unto the 
world ; again I leave the world and go to the Father. John 16-28. 

Socrates. 

4. When I have drunk the poison I shall no longer remain 
with you, but shall depart to some happy state of the blessed. 
Ph. 148. 

I too consider myself sacred to the God and that I have re- 
ceived the power of divination from our common master. Ph. 78. 

Jesus. 
4. Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father; 
but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my 
Father (God) and your Father and to my God and to your God. 
John 20-17. 

[62] 



LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL 

ARTICLE III. 

Socrates B. C. 400. 
1. He that arrives in Hades purified shall dwell with the 
Gods. 

Jesus. 

1. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 
Matt. 5-8. 

Socrates. 

2. Moreover they have abodes and temples of the gods, 
in which the gods really dwell and voices and oracles and sensible 
visions of the gods and such like intercourse with them. Ph. 138. 

Jesus. 

2. In my Father 9 s house are many mansions. John 14-2. 
Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called the 

children of God. Matt. 5-9. 

Socrates. 

3. When the dead arrive in Hades first of all they are 
judged, as well those who have lived well and piously, as those 
who have not. And each receives the reward of his deeds accord- 
ing to his deserts. Ph. 143. 

Jesus. 

3. So shall it be at the end of the world, the angels shall 
come forth and sever the wicked from the just. — Matt. 13-49. 

And every one shall be rewarded according to his works. 
Matt. 16-27. 

Socrates. 

4. Those who appear to be incurable through the magni- 
tude of their offences, these a suitable destiny hurls into Tartarus 
whence they never come forth. 

[63] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

Jesus. 

4. And all things that offend and them which do iniquity 
shall be cast into a furnace of fire. Matt. 13-41, 42. 

Socrates. 

5. But those who are found to have lived an eminently 
holy life these are they, who being freed and set at large from 
these regions of the earth, as from a prison, arrive at the upper 
parts of the earth and shall live throughout all future and shall 
arrive at habitations yet more beautiful. Ph. 145. 

Jesus. 

5. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the 
kingdom of their Father. Matt. 13 A3. 

Paul. 
Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of 
the life that now is and that which is to come. 1 Tim. 4-8. 

Socrates. 

6. But it is not lawful for anyone who has not studied phi- 
losophy and departed this life pure to pass into the ranks of 
gods, but only for the true lover of wisdom. Ph. 145. 

And who, having adorned his soul not with a foreign, but 
its own proper ornament, temperance, justice, fortitude, free- 
dom and truth, thus waits for his passage to Hades as one who 
is ready to depart whenever destiny shall summon him. Ph. 146. 

The soul which has passed through life with purity and 
moderation having obtained the gods for its fellow-travellers 
and guides, settles each in the place suited to it. Ph. 131. 

Jesus. 
6. Not every one shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but 
only he that doeth the will of my Father. Matt. 7-21. 

Paul. 
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye 

[64] 



LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

should abstain from fornication; that every one should know 
how to possess his vessel in purity and honor. 

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made 
with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 Cor. 5-1. 

To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for 
glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. 

Glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good. 
Bom. 2-7. 

SOCRATES. 

7. But for the sake of these things which we have de- 
scribed, we should use every endeavor so as to acquire virtue and 
wisdom in this life, for the hope is great and the reward is noble. 
Ph. 145. 

Jesus. 

7. Enter ye in at the gate, because straight is the gate and 
narrow is the way which leadeth to life. — Matt. 7-14. 

For, if ye forgive those who trespass against you, your heav- 
enly Father will also forgive you. 

Socrates. 
8 For it is in reality true that there is a reviving again, 
that the living are produced from the dead and that the souls 
of the dead exist, and that the condition of the good is better 
and of the evil worse. Ph. 46. 

Jesus. 

8. The hour is coming in which all that are in the graves 
shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection 
of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of dam- 
nation. John 5-29. 

Socrates. 

9. Effecting a calm of the passions, and following the 
guidance of reason and being always intent on this, contempla- 
te] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

ting that which is true and divine and not subject to opinion; 
and being nourished by it; it (the soul) shall go to a kindred es- 
sence, and one like itself, and shall be free from human evils. 
Ph. 75. 

Paul. 

9. If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die ; but if through the 
spirit ye do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as 
many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 
Bom. 8-31. 

The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we 
are the children of God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God. 
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bond- 
age into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Bom. 8, 16, 
17, 20. 

Socrates. 

10. Of these, then, are not they most happy and do they 
not go to the best place, who have practiced that social and civ- 
ilized virtue which they call temperance and justice and which is 
produced from habit and exercise? Ph. 71. 

James. 

10. The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then 
peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good 
fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit 
of righteousness is soivn in peace of them that make peace. James 
3-17, 18. 

Socrates. 

11. Can the soul then, which is invisible and which goes 
to another place like itself, excellent, pure and invisible; and 
therefore truly called the invisible world, to the presence of a 
good and wise god (whither if God will, my soul also must 
shortly go) can this soul of ours, I ask, being such and of such a 

[66] 



LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

nature, when separated from the body, be immediately dispersed 
\and destroyed, as men assert? Far from it. Ph. 68. 

Paul. 

11. There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial; 
but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terres- 
trial is another. 1 Cor. 15-40. 

And as we have borne the image of the earthly, so shall we 
also bear the image of the heavenly. 1 Cor. 15-49. 

For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mor- 
tal must put on immortality. 1 Cor. 15-53. 

For which cause we fadnt not; but though our outward man 
perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Cor. 4-16. 

Socrates. 

12. The soul is separated in a pure state, taking nothing 
of the body with it, as not having willingly communicated with 
it in the present life, but having shunned it, and gathered it- 
self as constantly studying this (but this is nothing else than 
to pursue philosophy and in reality to study how to die easily), 
would not this be to study how to die? "Most assuredly/' 
Does not the soul then, when in this state, depart to that which 
resembles itself, the invisible, the immortal and wise? And on 
its arrival there, is it not its lot to be happy, free from error, ig- 
norance, fears, wild passions and other evils to which human na- 
ture is subject; and as is said of the initiated, does it not in 
truth pass the rest of its time with the gods? Must we affirm 
that it is so, or otherwise? "So, by Jupiter!" Ph. 68. 

Paul. 
12. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorrup- 
tion and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be 
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed 

[67] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

up in victory. Death, where is thy sting? Grave, where 
is thy victory ? 1 Cor. 15-54. 

For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for 
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. "While we 
look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are 
not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the 
things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor. 4-17. 

For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to 
face, now I know in part, but then I shall know even as also I 
am known. 1 Cor. 13-12. 

Socrates. 
13. Those who instituted the mysteries for us appear to 
have been by no means contemptible, but in reality to have in- 
timated long since that whoever shall arrive in Hades unexpiated 
and uninitiated, shall lie in mud ; but he that arrives there puri- 
fied and initiated shall dwell with the gods. "For there are," 
say those who preside at the mysteries, "many wand-hearers hut 
few inspired." Ph. 38. 

Jesus. 

13. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king 
which made a marriage for his son. And when the king came 
in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a 
wedding garment. Then said the king, "Bind him hand and 
foot and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; for 
many are called hut few are chosen." Matt. 22-2, 11, 13, 14. 

Socrates. 

14. Since that which is immortal is also incorruptible, 
can the soul, since it is immortal, be anything else than imperish- 
able ? "When, therefore, death approaches a man, the mortal part 
of him as it appears dAes, hut the immortal part departs safe 
and uncorrupted, having withdrawn itself from death? 

[68] 



LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

The soul, therefore, is most certainly immortal and imper- 
ishable, and our soul will really exist in Hades. Ph. 128. 

Paul. 

14. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this 
mortal must put on immortality. Then shall be fulfilled the 
saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Cor. 
15, 54. 

HEAVEN. 

ARTICLE IV 

Socrates B. C. 400. 
1. This earth, (the upper parts of the atmosphere or 
heaven) if one should survey it from above, is said to have the 
appearance of a globe covered with twelve different kinds of 
material, variegated and distinguished with colors, of which 
the colors found here, and which painters use are, as it were, 
copies. But there the whole earth is composed of such and far 
more brilliant and pure than these. Ph. 136. 

St. John. 

1. And there came unto me an angel and he carried me 
away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me 
that great city, and her light was clear as crystal and she had 
twelve gates and twelve foundations and the building of the wall 
of it as of jasper and the street of that city was pure gold as it 
were transparent glass. Rev. 21-10, 12, 21. 

Socrates. 

2. In like manner its mountains and stones possess, in the 
same proportion, smoothness and transparency and more beau- 
tiful colors; of which the well known stones here that are so 
highly prized are but fragments, such as sardine stones, jaspers 
and emeralds, and all of that kind. Ph. 136. 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

St. John. 

2. And the foundations of the walls of the city were gar- 
nished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation 
was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth 
an emerald, etc. Rev. 21-18. 

Socrates. 

3. But this earth is adorned with all these and moreover 
with gold and silver and other things of the kind; for they are 
naturally conspicuous being numerous and large and in all 
parts of the heavens. So that to behold it is a sight for the 
blessed. Ph. 137. 

St. John. 

3. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls and the street 
of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass ; and the 
nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, 
and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor unto 
it. Rev. 21-22. 

Socrates. 

4. In this earth, being such, all things that grow, grow in 
a manner proportioned to its nature — trees, flowers and fruits. 
Ph. 136. 

St. John. 

4. In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the 
river, was there the tree of life which bare twelve manner of 
fruits. Rev. 22-2. 

Socrates. 

5. But their seasons are of such a temperament that they 
are free from disease, and surpass us in sight, hearing and smell- 
ing and everything of this kind. Ph. 138. 

St. John. 
5. And there shall be no more curse and God shall wipe 

[To] 



LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow and crying, neither shall there be any more pain. 
Bev. 21-4. 

Socrates. 
6. Moreover they have abodes and temples of the gods 
in which gods really dwell and voices and oracles and sensible 
visions of the gods and snch like intercourse with them. Ph. 138. 

St. John. 

6. Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will 
dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself 
shall be with them and be their God. Bev. 21-3. 

Socrates. 

7. The sun and moon too, and stars are seen by them such 
as they really are and their felicity in other respects is corres- 
pondent with these things. 

St. John. 

7. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the 
moon to shine in it for the glory of God did lighten it and the 
nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it. 
Bev. 21-23. 

Socrates. 

8. There are also other animals and men upon it, some 
dwelling in mid-earth, others about the air as we do about the 
sea, and others in islands which the air flows around and which 
are near the continent; and in one word, what water and sea 
are to us for our necessities, the air is to them, and what air is 
to us, that, ether is to them. Ph. 137. 

St. John. 
8. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses 
prepared unto battle, and on their heads were as it were crowns 
like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. Bev. 9-7. 

[7i] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

And thus I saw the horses in the vision and them that sat 
on them having breast plates of fire and of jacinth and brim- 
stone, and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions, 
and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 
Rev. 9-17. 

And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne 
were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first 
beast was like a lion, the second like a calf and the third had a 
face as a man and the fourth was like a flying eagle. And the 
four beasts had each of them six wings and they were full of 
eyes within. Rev. 4-6. 

HELL. 

ARTICLE V. 

Socrates B. C. 400. 
1. A third river issues midway between these and near its 
source falls into a vast region burning with abundance of fire 
and forms a lake larger than our sea boiling with water and 
mud. And there are immense bulks of ever-flowing rivers under 
the earth both hot and cold water and a great quantity of fire 
and mighty rivers of fire which elsewhere both Homer and 
other poets have called Tartarus. Ph. 139-142. 

St. John. 

1. And the third angel sounded and there fell a great 
star from heaven burning, as it were a lamp and it fell upon the 
third part of the rivers and upon the fountain of the waters. 
Rev. 8-10. 

And he opened the bottomless pit and there arose a smoke 
out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace. Rev. 9-2. 

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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

Socrates. 
2. And the reason why all streams flow out from thence 
and flow into it, is because this liquid has neither bottom nor 
base. 

St. John. 

2. And I saw an angel come down from heaven having the 
key of the bottomless pit and he laid hold on the old dragon and 
cast him in the bottomless pit. Rev. 20-1. 

Socrates. 

3. But those who appear to be incurable from the magni- 
tude of their offenses, these a suitable destiny hurls into Tar- 
tarus, whence they never come forth. Ph. 143. 

Jesus. 

3. And cast ye the unprofitable son into outer darkness. 
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment. Ye ser- 
pents, ye generation of vipers, how can you escape the dam- 
nation of hell? And ye shall cast them into a furnace of fire. 
Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for 
the devil and his angels. Matt. 25, 30, 41, 46. 

Socrates. 

4. Since, then, I allow that there are demons as you admit, 
if demons are a kind of gods, this is the point in which I say 
you speak enigmatically and divert yourself in saying that I 
do not allow there are gods and again I do allow there are, 
since I allow that there are demons. But demons are the chil- 
dren of gods, spurious ones, either from nymphs or any others 
of whom they are reported to be, what man can think that there 
are sons of gods and yet that there are not gods? Ap. 15. 

St. John. 
4. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels 
fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his an- 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

gels, and prevailed not; neither was there place found any 
more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old 
serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceived the whole 
world; he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast 
out with him. Rev. 12, 7-9. 

JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD. 

ARTICLE VI. 

Socrates B. C. 400. 
1. When the dead arrive at the place to which their demon 
leads them severally, first of all they are judged as well those 
who have lived well and piously, as those who have not. Ph. 134. 

St. John. 

1. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; 
and the books were opened, and another book was opened which 
is the book of life ; and the dead were judged out of those things 
which were written in the book, according to their works. Rev 
20-12. 

Socrates. 

2. And those who are found to have lived an eminently 
holy life, these are they being freed and set at large from these 
regions of the earth as from a prison, arrive at the pure abode 
above and dwell on the upper parts of the earth. Ph. 145. 

St. John. 

2. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree 
of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. He that 
overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and 
he shall be my son. Rev. 21-7. 

Socrates. 

3. And among these, they who have sufficiently purified 

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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

themselves by philosophy shall live through all future time. 
Ph. 145. 

St. John. 

3. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they 
may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through 
the gates of the city. Rev. 22-14. 

And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, 
neither light of the sun ; for the Lord God giveth them light, and 
they shall reign forever and ever. Rev. 22-5. 

Socrates. 

4. But those who appear incurable through the magnitude 
of their offences either from having committed many and great 
sacrileges, or many and unjust and lawless murders, or other 
similar crimes, these a suitable destiny hurls into Tartarus, 
whence they never come forth. Ph. 143. 

St. John. 

4. But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable 
and murderers and sorcerers and idolators and all liars shall 
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brim- 
stone. Rev. 21-8. 

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and 
ever, and they have no rest day or night. Rev. 14-11. 

RICHES AND POVERTY. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Socrates B. C. 400. 
1. Athenians ! I honor and love you ; but I shall obey 
God rather than you; and as long as I breathe and am able, I 
shall not cease studying philosophy and exhorting you and warn- 
ing any one of you I may happen to meet, saying, as I have been 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

accustomed to do. best of Men : seeing you are an Athenian, 
of a city the most powerful and most renowned for wisdom 
and strength, are you not ashamed of being careful of riches, 
how you may get them in greatest abundance and for glory and 
honor, but care not nor take any thought for wisdom and truth, 
and for your soul, how it may be made most perfect? Ap. 17. 

Jesus. 

1. Blessed be ye poor; for yours is the kingdom of God. 
But woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your conso- 
lation. Luke 6-20. 

And the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches 
and lusts of other things, entering in, choke the word and it be- 
cometh unfruitful. Mark. 4-19. 

Socrates. 

2. For I go about doing nothing else but persuading you 
both young and old to take no care either for the body or for 
riches, prior to, or so much as for the soul, how it may be made 
most perfect, telling you that virtue does not spring from riches, 
but riches and all other human blessings both private and public 
from virtue. Ap. 17. 

Jesus. 

2. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your 
life, what ye shall eat ; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 
But rather seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these shall be 
added unto you. Luke 12-22. 

Socrates. 

3. Still, therefore, I go about and search and inquire into 
these things, in obedience to the God, both among citizens and 
strangers. And, in consequence of this occupation I have no 
leisure to attend in any considerable degree to the affairs of 

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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

the state or my own; but I am in the greatest poverty through 
my devotion to the service of the God. Ap. 9. 

Jesus. 

3. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole 
world and lose his own soul? Mark 8-36. 

The foxes have holes and the birds of the air nests ; but the 
son of man hath not where to lay his head. Matt, 8-20. 

HONEST PURPOSE. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Socrates B. C. 400. 
1. From me ye shall hear the whole truth, for I am con- 
fident that what I say be just, and let none of you expect other- 
wise. Ap. 1. 

Jesus. 

1. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 
Which of you convinceth me of sin ? And if I say the truth, why 
do ye not believe me ? John 8-46. 

Socrates. 

2. But I, through the whole of my life, if I have done any- 
thing in public shall be found to be a man, and the very same in 
private, who has never made a concession to any one contrary 
to Justice. Ap. 21. 

Jesus. 

2. For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which 
was lost. Luke 19-10. 

I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repen- 
tance. Matt. 9-13. 

Socrates. 

3. In order to confer the greatest benefit on each of you 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

privately, as I affirm, I thereupon applied myself to that ob- 
ject, endeavoring to persuade every one of you to take any care 
of his own affairs before he had taken care of himself. Ap. 26. 

Jesus. 

3. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets 
and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have 
gathered thy children as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
wing, and ye would not ! Matt. 23-37. 

Socrates. 

4. I am persuaded that I never designedly injured any 
man. Being persuaded then that I have injured no one, I am 
far from intending to injure myself. 

Jesus. 

4. I have glorified thee on earth ; I have finished the work 
which thou gavest me to do. John 17-4. 

I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his 
love. John 15-10. 

Socrates. 

5. I say that this is the greatest good to man, to discourse 
daily on virtue. Ap. 28. 

Jesus. 
5. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say : Re- 
pent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matt. 4-17. 

MORAL DUTIES. 

ARTICLE IX. 

Socrates B. C. 400. 
1. Say we then that we should on no account deliberately 
commit injustice, or may we commit injustice under certain 
circumstances, under others not? Or is it on no account either 

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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

good or honorable to commit injustice, as we have often agreed 
on former occasions, and as we just now said? Crito 10. 

Jesus. 

1. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 
righteousness, for they shall be filled. Matt. 5-6. 

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your 
good works. Matt. 5-16. 

Socrates. 

2. Is injustice on every account both evil and disgraceful 
to them who commit it? Do we admit this or not? Crito. We 
do admit it. Crito 10. 

Paul. 

2. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and 
equal. Col. 4-1. 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, 
pure, lovely and of good report, if there be any virtue and if 
there be any praise, think on these things. Phil. 4-8. 

Socrates. 

3. On no account, therefore, ought we to act unjustly? 
Crito. Surely not. Crito 10. 

Paul. 

3. But to do good and to communicate, forget not ; for with 
such sacrifices God is well pleased. Heb. 13-16. 

Socrates. 

4. Neither ought one who is injured to return the injury, 
as the multitude think, since it is on no account right to act 
unjustly. Crito. It appears not. 

What then? Is it right to do evil, Crito, or not? Crito. 
Surely it is not right, Socrates. 

But what, to do evil in return when one has been evilly- 
treated is that right, or not? Crito. By no means. For to 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

do evil to man differs in no respect from committing injustice. 
Crito 10. 

Paul. 

4. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things 
honest in the sight of all men. Avenge not yourselves. Be not 
overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Bom. 12-17, 19, 21. 

Abhor that which is evil ; cleave to that which is good. Bom. 
12-9. 

Socrates. 

5. It is not right, therefore, to return an injury or to do evil 
to any man, however one may have suffered from him. Crito 10. 

I say next then or rather ask; whether when a man has 
promised to do things that are just he ought to do them or evade 
his promise ? Crito. He ought to do them. Crito 10. 

Jesus. 

5. Ye have heard that it hath been said : An eye for an eye 
and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you that ye resist not evil ; 
but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the 
other also. Matt. 5-38. 

Ye have heard that it has been said: Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your 
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, 
and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. 
Matt. 5-43. 

Socrates. 

6. Do you think it possible for that city any longer to sub- 
sist and not be subverted in which judgments that are passed 
have no force but are set aside and are destroyed by private per- 
sons? "What should we say, Crito, to these and similar remon- 
strances? For any one, especially an orator, would have much 
to say on the violation of the law, which enjoins that judgment 

[8o] 



LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

passed shall be enforced. Shall we say to them that the city has 
done an injustice, and not passed a right sentence? Shall we 
say this or what else ? Crito. This, By Jupiter ! Crito 11. 

Jesus. 

6. Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to 
desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall 
not stand. Matt. 12-25. 

Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which are Caesar 's. 
Matt. 22-21. 

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with 
all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind, and 
thy neighbor as thyself. Luke 10-27. 

Socrates. 

7. What then if the laws should say, "Socrates, was it not 
agreed between us that you should abide by the judgments 
which the city should pronounce?" And if this be so, do you 
say that there are equal rights between us? And whatever we 
attempt to do to you, do you think you may justly do to us in re- 
turn? Crito 12. 

Paul. 

7. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For 
there is no power but of God ; the powers that be are ordained of 
God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordi- 
nance of God, and they that resist shall receive unto themselves 
damnation. Rom. 13-1, 2. 

Socrates. 

8. Or had you not equal rights with your father, or master 
if you happened to have one, so as to return what you suffered ; 
neither to retort when found fault with, nor when stricken, to 
strike again, nor many other things of the kind; but that with 
your country and the laws you may do so ; so that if we attempt 
to destroy you, thinking it to be just, you also should endeavor so 

[8i] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

far as you are able, in return, to destroy us, the laws and your 
country ; and in doing this, will you say that you act justly — you 
who, in reality, make virtue your chief object? Crito 12. 

Paul. 

8. For rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil. 
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is 
good, and thou shalt have the praise of the same. Render there- 
fore to all their dues : tribute to whom tribute is due ; custom to 
whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honour to whom honour. Owe 
no man anything, but to love one another : for he that loveth an- 
other hath fulfilled the law. Rom. 13-3, 7, 8. 

Socrates. 

9. Or are you so wise as not to know that one's country is 
more honorable, venerable and sacred, and more highly prized 
both by gods and men possessed of understanding, than mother 
and father and all other progenitors ; and that one ought to rever- 
ence, submit to, and appease one's country, when angry, rather 
than one's father; and either persuade it or do what it orders, 
and to suffer quietly if it bids one to suffer whether to be beaten, 
or put in bonds; or if it sends one out to battle there to be 
wounded or slain, this must be done ; for justice so requires and 
one must not give way or retreat, or leave one's post; but that 
both in war and in a court of justice and everywhere one must 
do what one's city and country enjoin or persuade it in such a 
manner as justice allows, but to offer violence to either one's 
mother or father is not holy, much less to one's country. Crito 12. 

Jesus. 

9. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not 
worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me 
is not worthy of me. Matt. 10-37. 

my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; 
nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matt. 26-39. 

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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

Put up again thy sword into its place ; for all they that take 
the sword shall perish by the sword. Matt. 26-52. 

Think not that I am oome to send peace on the earth; I 
came not to send peace but a sword. For I am come to set a man 
at variance against his father and the daughter against her 
mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and a 
man's foes shall be they of his own household. Matt. 10-34, 35, 36. 

Socrates. 

10. I bear no resentment toward those who condemned me 
or against my accusers. You, therefore, My Judges ! ought to 
entertain good hopes with respect to death and to meditate on this 
truth, that to a good man nothing is evil, neither while living nor 
when dead, nor are his concerns neglected by the gods. Ap. 33. 

Jesus. 

10. Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. 
Luke 23-34. 

If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
children, how much more shall your heavenly father give good 
things to them that ask him? Matt. 7-11. 

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should 
do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the 
prophets. Matt. 7-12. 

MANNER OF ADDRESS. 

ARTICLE X. 

Socrates. 
1. Athenians ! best of men ! Athenians, I honor and 
love you. 

Jesus. 
1. wicked generation! generation of vipers! ye 
of little faith! ye hypocrites! Woe unto you Scribes and 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

Pharisees, hypocrites! Ye blind guides! Ye fools and blind. 
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers ! Matt. 23. 

Socrates. 
2. My friends. My good friends. My admirable friends. 
My most excellent friends. wonderful Melitus. My dear 
Melitus. (Melitus was his chief accuser.) 

Jesus. 

2. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command. 
John 15: 14. 

Socrates. 

3. To affirm positively, indeed, that these things are exactly 
as I have described them does not become a man of sense. Ph. 
145. 

Jesus. 
3. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, 
and is withered ; and men gather them and cast them into the fire 
and they are burned. My brethren, (To his disciples only.) 
Friend, (To Judas.) John 15-6. 

OPINIONS AND DOCTRINES. 

ARTICLE XI. 

Socrates, B. C. 400. 
1. But take care, Crito, that in allowing these things you do 
not allow them contrary to your opinion ; for I know that to some 
few only these things both do appear and will appear to be true. 
Crito 10. 

Jesus. 
1. He that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16, 16. 
Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him 
also shall I be ashamed. Mark 8-38. 

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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

Socrates. 

2. Consider well, then, whether you coincide and think with 
me or whether yon dissent from and not coincide in this prin- 
ciple. If you in any respect think otherwise, say so and inform 
me. Cri. 10. To affirm positively, indeed, that these things are 
exactly as I have described them does not become a man of sense. 
It is right that you should both speak and ask whatever you 
please, Simmias. Ph. 145. 

If I should say that I am in anything wiser, it would be in 
this: that not having a competent knowledge of the things in 
Hades, I also think and say that I have not such knowledge. 
Ap. 17. 

Jesus. 

2. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word- shall 
not pass away. Matt. 24-35. But whosoever shall deny me, him 
also will I deny. Matt. 10-33. If any man come to me and hate 
not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren 
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 
Luke 14-26. 

Socrates. 

3. For we ought, with respect to these things, either to learn 
from others how they stand or to discover the (facts) for one's 
self or, if both these are impossible, then, taking the best human 
reasonings and that which is the most difficult to be refuted, and 
embarking on this as one who risks himself on a raft, so to sail 
through life, unless one could be carried more safely and with 
less risk on a surer conveyance or some divine reason. Ph. 78. 

St. John. 

3. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of 

the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, 

God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book ; 

and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this 

[«53 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and 
out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this 
book. Rev. 22-18, 19. 

Socrates. 
4. And first of all, we must beware lest we become haters of 
reasoning as some become haters of men ; for no greater evil can 
happen to anyone than to hate reasoning. For hatred of rea- 
soning and hatred of mankind both spring from the same source. 
Ph. 87. 

Paul. 

4. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any 
other gospel than that which we have preached unto you, let him 
be accursed. Gal. 1-8. 

Socrates. 

5. Let us beware therefore and let us not admit unto our 
souls the notion that there appears to be nothing sound in rea- 
soning, but rather that we are not yet in a sound condition and 
that we ought vigorously and strenuously to endeavor to become 
sound, you and the others, on account of your whole future life ; 
but I on account of my death since I am in danger, at the present 
time of not behaving as becomes a philosopher with respect to 
this very subject, but as a wrangler, like those who are utterly 
uninformed. For they, when they dispute about anything, care 
nothing at all for the subject about which the discussion is, but 
are anxious about this, that what they have themselves advanced 
appear true to the persons present. Ph. 90. 

Paul. 
5. Despise not prophesyings. I Thess. 5-20. Prove all 
things and hold fast to that which is good. I Thess. 5-21. Be not 
conformed to this world ; but be ye transformed by the renewing 
of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable 
and perfect will of God. Rom. 12-2. 

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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

Socrates. 
6. And I seem to myself on the present occasion to differ 
from them in this respect ; for I shall not be anxious to make what 
I say appear true to those who are present, except that may hap- 
pen by the way, but that it may appear certainly to be so to my- 
self. For I thus reason, my dear friends, and observe how in- 
terestedly. If what I say be true, it is well to be persuaded of it. 
Ph. 90. 

Paul. 

6. One man esteemeth one day above another; another es- 
teemeth every day alike. Let every man be persuaded in his own 
mind. Rom. 14, 5. 

Socrates. 

7. Do you, however, if you will be persuaded by me, pay 
little attention to Socrates, but much more to the truth ; and if I 
appear to you to say anything true, assent to it : but if not, oppose 
me with all your might, taking good care that in my zeal I do not 
deceive both myself and you, and, like a bee, depart leaving my 
sting behind. Ph. 91. 

Paul. 
7. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not 
cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with 
the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understand- 
ing ; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, be- 
ing fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge 
of God. Col. 1-9. 

LAST WORDS AND ACTS. 
ARTICLE XII. 

Socrates. 
1. And what, Phaedo, were the circumstances of his death ¥ 
What was said and done ¥ and who of his friends were with him? 

m 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

or would not the magistrates allow them to be present ; but did he 
die destitute of friends ? 

Phaedo. By no means ; but some, indeed many, were pres- 
ent. Ph. 4. 

Jesus. 

1. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying: 
Whomsoever I shall kiss that same is he, hold him fast. Then 
Judas kissed him, and Jesus said unto him : Friend, wherefore art 
thou come ? And they laid hands on Jesus and took him. Then 
all his disciples forsook him and fled. Matt. 26-48. 

Socrates. 

2. And at the same time smiling gently and looking round 
on us, he said, "I cannot persuade Crito, my friends, that I am 
that Socrates who is now conversing with you and who methodizes 
each part of the discourse ; but he thinks that I am he whom he 
will shortly behold dead, and asks v how he should bury me. But 
that which I some time since argued at length, that when I have 
drunk the poison I shall no longer remain with you, but shall de- 
part to some happy state of the blessed. Ph. 148. When he had 
said this, he rose and went into a chamber to bathe and Crito fol- 
lowed him; but he directed us to wait for him. We waited, 
therefore, conversing among ourselves about what had been said, 
and considering it again, and sometimes speaking about our 
calamity, how severe it would be to us, sincerely thinking that, 
like those who are deprived of a father, we should pass the rest 
of our life as orphans. Ph. 148. 

Jesus. 

2. Now Peter sat without in the palace ; and a damsel came 

unto him saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he 

denied before them all, saying I know not what thou sayest. And 

after awhile came unto him they that stood by and said to Peter: 

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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

Surely thou art also one of them. Then began he to curse and 
swear saying : I know not the man. Matt. 26, 69-74. 

Socrates. 

3. When he came from bathing, he sat down and did not 
speak much afterward; then the officer of the Eleven came in, 
and standing near him, said : ' ' Socrates, I shall not have to find 
that fault with you that I do with others that they are angry with 
me and curse me, when by order of the archons, I bid them 
drink the poison. But you, on all occasions during the time you 
have been here, I have found to be the most noble, meek and 
excellent man of all that ever came unto this place ; and, there- 
fore, I am now well convinced that you will not be angry with me, 
(for you know who are to blame), but with them. Now, then, 
(for you know what I came to announce to you) farewell, and 
endeavor to bear what is inevitable as easily as possible. ' ' And 
at the same time bursting into tears he turned away and with- 
drew. Ph. 150. 

Jesus. 

3. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing but that 
rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands 
before the multitude, saying : I am innocent of the blood of this 
just person, see ye to it. And when he had scourged Jesus, he de- 
livered him to be crucified. Matt. 27, 24, 26. Then the soldiers of 
the Governor took Jesus into the common hall. And they stripped 
him and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted 
a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head and a reed in his 
hand ; and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him, say- 
ing : Hail, King of the Jews ! And they spit on him, and took 
the reed and smote him on the head. And after they had mocked 
him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment 
on him and led him away to crucify him. Matt. 27-27, 28, 29, 
30, 31. 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

And they set up over his head this accusation written ' ' This 
is Jesus, the King of the Jews." Matt. 27-37. 

Socrates. 

4. And Socrates, looking after him, said: "And thou too, 
farewell. We will do as you direct. ' ' At the same time turning 
to us, he said "How courteous the man is! During the whole 
time I have been here, he has visited me, and conversed with me 
sometimes, and proved the worthiest of men ; and now how gener- 
ously he weeps for me. But come, Crito, let us obey him and let 
some one bring the poison. Go, Crito, obey and do not resist." 
Ph. 151. 

Jesus. 

4. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their 
heads and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it 
in three days, save yourself. If thou be the son of God, come 
down from the cross. Matt, 27-39, 40. 

Socrates. 

5. And Socrates, on seeing the man, said: "Well, my good 
friend, as you are skilled in these matters, what must I do?" 
"Nothing else than drink this ;" and at the same time, he held out 
the cup to Socrates. And he having received it cheerfully, 
neither trembling nor changing at all in color or countenance as 
he was wont, looking steadfastly at the man, said : " I understand 
you, but it is certainly both lawful and right to pray to the gods 
that my departure hence thither may be happy ; which, therefore, 
I pray and so may it be." And as he said this, he drank it off 
readily and calmly. 

Jesus. 

5. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the 

scribes and elders, said, He saved others ; himself he cannot save. 

If he be the King of Israel let him now come down from the 

cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God, let him deliver 

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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND SOCRATES COMPARED 

him now, for lie said, I am the son of God. Matt, 27, 41, 42, 43. 
And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried in a loud voice, saying : My 
God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me ? Matt. 27-46. And 
when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father unto thy 
hands I commend my spirit. Luke 23-46. 

Socrates. 
6. Thus far, most of us were with difficulty able to restrain 
ourselves from weeping ; but now when we saw him drinking, and 
having finished the draught, we could do so no longer; but in 
spite of myself, the tears came in full torrent, so that covering my 
face I wept for myself ; for I did not weep for him but for my own 
fortune, in being deprived of such a friend. But Crito even be- 
fore me, when he could not restrain his tears, had risen up. 

Jesus. 

6. And many women were there beholding afar off, which 
followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him. Among 
which was Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and 
Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children. Matt. 27-55, 56. 

Socrates. 

7. But Apollodorus, even before this had not ceased weep- 
ing; and then bursting into an agony of grief, weeping and 
lamenting, he pierced the heart of every one present except 
Socrates himself. But he said, What are you doing, my admirable 
friends? I indeed for this reason chiefly sent away the women 
that they might not commit any folly of this kind. For I have 
heard that it is right to die with good omens. Be quiet, there- 
fore, and bear up. Ph. 153, 154. But now his lower parts were 
almost cold, when uncovering himself, for he had been covered 
over, he said (and these were his last words) "Crito, we owe a 
cock to Aesculapius; pay it, therefore; and do not neglect it." 
"It shall be done," said Crito. "But consider whether you have 
anything else to say." To this question, he made no reply; but 

[91] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

shortly after, he gave a convulsive movement, and the man covered 
him. His eyes were fixed; and Crito, perceiving it, closed his 
mouth and eyes. This was the end of our friend, a man as we 
may say, the best of all of his time that we have known, and more- 
over the most just and wise. Ph. 155. 

Jesus. 
7. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, his 
mother's sister Mary, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus there- 
fore saw his mother and the disciple, standing by, whom he loved, 
he said unto his mother : "Woman, behold thy son ! ' ' Then saith 
he to the disciple : ' ' Behold thy mother. ' ' After this Jesus saith, 
' ' I thirst. ' ' Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they 
filled a sponge with vinegar and put it to his mouth. When Jesus 
therefore had received the vinegar, he said : " It is finished, ' ' And 
he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. John 19-25, 26, 27, 
29, 30. 



[92] 



INTRODUCTION TO BOOK III 

Is Jesus A Model? 

Before entering upon the discussion of this question, I de- 
sire to announce, declare and affirm in the most solemn and 
sincere spirit, that I am fully aware of the seriousness and im- 
portance of the subject in hand. While I am wholly devoid of 
a feeling of worship, I am very certain that my regard for my 
fellow-men is of the highest, Jesus included. I believe that he, 
like every other human being, comes under the American declara- 
tion that "all men are created equal." He was the product, 
directly, of his own age, and indirectly of preceding ages, with all 
the limitations which such fact implies. He must, therefore, be 
regarded as other men, innocent of conscious or intentional 
wrong-doing, but also measured by the growing sense of moral 
and intellectual progress and the consequent higher standards of 
our own time. Whenever, the text or the context of his reported 
utterances indicates, (1) that his words were clearly intended as 
allegory or poetic imagery, (2) that he had not transcended the 
knowledge and moral judgments of his own time, (3) that he 
may have been grossly misquoted and misrepresented, and (4) 
that he may have been more or less irresponsible by reason of 
some possible form of pathologic mentality ; for all of which, and 
in every instance, due consideration and solicitation is respect- 
fully extended. From the standpoint of the American ideal of 
human equality, Jesus is entitled to the fullest measure of 
sympathy for whatever may be true in his teachings — for his 
love of righteousness and for his deeds of kindness and mercy. 
He is entitled to charity for any irresponsible error of utterance 
or of conduct ; to compassion for his claims of absolute and uni- 
versal moral authority; and to pity for assuming for himself 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

divine power to reward believers and punish unbelievers, and for 
declaring himself the exclusive light, life and saviour of the world. 

The following quotations will to a great extent confirm my 
position, both as to the availability of the life and teaching of 
Jesus, and also, to the general result of popular religious efforts : 
\ "From one of our Ohio pastors, there comes the information 
that the Y. M. C. A. in a large Ohio city has deliberately stricken 
the name of Jesus Christ from its constitution, so Jews and other 
objectors might not be shut out from its membership. 

The Bible affirms Jesus Christ to be 'the mighty God, 
and everlasting Father/ — 'equal with God/ And Jesus him- 
self declared, l He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. ' If his 
declaration is not true, he was the greatest of all imposters and 
blasphemers V ' — The Evangelical Messenger, January 21, 1920. 

An editorial recently published by The Christian Work 
(New York) warns the Church of the changes the future has in 
store. It is stated to have been the last message written by Dr. 
Washington Gladden before his death. He said : 

"Religion has appeared in all recent history as a divisive 
element, as an antagonistic force, separating men instead of unit- 
ing them ; driving them apart instead of calling them together. 

1 ' This is certainly all wrong ; it is the exact opposite of what 
religion ought to be. What is the matter with religion that it 
has become so perverted? It looks as though it had caught the 
taint of militaristic nationalism, and had learned in this way 
to be a divisive force. Certain it is that such religion as we have 
been familiar with does little to mitigate or restrain the antag- 
onisms of nations, but rather aggravates them." 

"Moral conditions were found worst in those places where 
there are the largest number of churches in proportion to the 
inhabitants." From "Six Thousand Country Churches," by 
Charles Otis Gill and Gifford Pinchot. 

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BOOK III 
IS JESUS A MODEL? 

" There is hideous reason, lamentable reason, for believing 
that Christ, to eighty-five per cent of our beloved countrymen 
and countrywomen, is today, only, one name among others, like 
Plato, Sophocles, or Marcus Aurelius." — Father Bernard 
Vaughan, as reported in the Denver Post, Sunday, April 4, 1920. 

It is the habit of many, even of materialistic and radical 
reformers who deny to Jesus any supernatural quality, to in- 
vite for him respect and praise from a purely moral point of 
view. I cannot in the slightest degree assent to a proposition 
of this kind. Either the stand must be taken that he was what 
he said he was, or he was the greatest impostor in the world's 
history. Agreeing with both the Universalist and the Unitar- 
ian churches, and the entire scientific and educational world 
of our times, that Jesus was purely human and equal with the 
rest of his fellows, being neither of supernatural or extraordi- 
nary origin or meaning, the following conclusion by the eminent 
divine, Ian Maclaren, seems to me very good logic: "Let us 
hear no more about the pure morality of Jesus Christ, and the 
beauty of his calm and lofty teaching, and the rest of it. Take 
away the supernatural (the resurrection of the dead) and we 
have left behind beautiful precepts and fair wisdom with a 
monstrous self-assertion and the constant reiteration of claims 
which the event proves to have been baseless. Men nowadays 
talk very lightly of throwing aside the supernatural portions 
of gospel history, and retaining reverence for the great teacher, 
the pure moralist of Nazareth-. Either he has risen from the 
dead, or his words were blasphemy." And so say I. And being 
fully persuaded that neither Jesus nor any other person was 
ever outside of the declaration that "all men are created 

[95] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

equal," I proceed to set forth the man Jesus as he appears 
divested from his supernatural apparel. 

The life of Jesus has nothing of value to the modern man. 
To do as he did involves the greatest distress and sorrow and 
to succeed as he succeeded involves death in the prime of life. 
If tears and sorrow is the aim of life then Jesus is a model, 
but if sunshine, beauty and comfort is the true aim of life, 
then Jesus has nothing to offer. 

The Universe being sound and safe and man an evolution- 
ary product, the Christian religion with its smoke and 
torments is the black hole in the world's progress. Jesus as 
a representative of health and happiness is the world 's greatest 
farce. The poison of his curses and the cruelty of his hell con- 
stitute the motive power of his religion. Take out of his sys- 
tem the wrath of his God and say that man is noble, his entire 
philosophy breaks down, his hell is empty of suffering souls 
and his heaven a common air-castle. 

In my estimation and in the estimation of a growing num- 
ber of students of history, Jesus is purely a fictitous character 
invented and designed for the identical purpose for which he 
is used, namely, to terrify people into accepting and submitting 
to an impossible imposition for mercenary purposes. Jesus, 
the bible and the church are pieces of pottery formed and fired 
by the wily hand of priestcraft and imposition. 

In this consideration of the life of Jesus, the entire story 
as it appears in the gospels will be accepted; and gods, angels, 
devils and Santa Claus placed in one sack, and if one comes 
out fishy, the rest will have a similar odor. 

"We are not concerned with tradition or theology, but only 
with the truth; and to the end that truth may triumph over 
falsehood — fact over theory and liberty over bondage — I shall 
absolve myself from all fear of punishment or hope of reward 

[96] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

and calmly stand by my convictions and unveil the "most 
despised and rejected mortal" which was supposed to be holy 

Man Should be Well Born. 

I do not think it impolite to suppose that, if a God should 
descend upon this earth for the purpose of saving men from 
their sins and mistakes, his life should be a perfect one. Not 
only should a model be perfect in middle life or in old age, 
but in every moment of his life. He should be properly born 
and under the most favorable conditions for the development 
of perfect health and character. Anything less than this can- 
not be called a perfect model. Common decency would insist 
that any person especially appointed to be a model should be 
of a legal birth, that he should be born under normal conditions, 
and that both shelter and care should be of a sanitary and re- 
spectable nature in every way. 

In considering the life of Jesus Christ from this standpoint, 
we are at the very outset confronted with a most serious defi- 
ciency. Not only do we find the most abject poverty, but we 
are confronted with the product of imprudent and illegal re- 
lations if not with outright crime. Ordinarily and as an indi- 
vidual, I am most liberal in matters of this kind. But this is 
an extraordinary occasion, and we are dealing with the require- 
ments of a model. 

A model is for the purpose of teaching and inculcating the 
proper conditions for obtaining the best results. These condi- 
tions are a most vital part in the building up of a model charac- 
ter, and ought not to be overlooked in the appointment of a 
life especially intended for that purpose. 

An illegal birth cannot be construed into a model birth. 
If the institution of marriage is of divine origin, as Christians 
assert, we demand a lawful certificate showing where and when 
a God was lawfully wedded to the mother of Jesus, so that we 

[97] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

may, once and for all, settle this question. If a God wanted 
an offspring, it would seem that if there were no other reason 
why he should obey the common law of marriage it would be 
to avoid setting a bad example by entering the marriage rela- 
tion without first obtaining the lawful right. 

Of course, it is a very common occurrence in the Christian 
religion to have one law for man and another for God. The 
relations of God and man are as King and subject; and, of 
course, the King can do no wrong. But this can scarcely be 
applied in instances where the direct demand is made to 
"walk with God" or "to follow in the Master's footsteps." 
If man is to be and do Godlike, in order to be good and moral, 
it follows that God, or the model, must above all possess these 
attributes. If the model indulges in immoral and lawless lib- 
erties, the followers of such a model will naturally do likewise. 

On this matter the poet Whittier has left us a revelation, 
which I will here recite. It fits the case in consideration and 
reads as follows: 

"The riddle of the world is understood 

Only by him who knows that God is good, 

As only he can feel who makes his love 

The ladder of his faith and climbs above 

On the rounds of his best instincts; draws no line 

Between mere human goodness and divine, 

By judging God by what in him is best. — 

With a child's trust leaning on a father's breast, 

And hears unmoved the babble of the old creeds still ; 

Of kingly power and dread caprice of will ; 

Chary of blessing, prodigal of curse, 

The pitiless dooms man of the universe. 

Can hatred ask for love? Can selfishness 

Invite to self-denial? Is He less 

[98] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

Than man in kindly dealing ? Can He break 

His own great law of Fatherhood — forsake 

And curse His children? 

Not for earth and heaven 

Can separate tables of the law be given, 

No rule can bind which He himself denies — 

The truths of time are not eternal lies. ' ' 

"We find further that the pretended progenitor of Jesus 
failed wholly in his duty to provide even the most meagre 
necessities for the care and proper reception of his offspring. 
All the common duties of fatherhood were thrown on a sub- 
stitute. A stable and a manger were the best that could be pro- 
vided by this substitute for his outraged companion; while 
the despoiler, careless of his duty, remained inactive and un- 
concerned. 

It is one of the common axioms the world over that a 
father should provide for his spouse and offspring, but here 
desertion and neglect is paraded as something divine. The 
thought of it is revolting. 

There is, however, some mention as to how this mysterious 
Ghost-Father delivered some orders to the substitute ; and since 
they are in the form of dreams, there is not the slightest doubt 
that they were inspired by anything but a " ghost ;" for dreams 
are in all cases mental delusions and are of no value or conse- 
quence whatever in the destiny of events. 

A Twelve- Year Old Model. 
With the ending of the dream episodes, there is a blank in 
the story up to the time when Jesus was twelve years old; and 
here we desire to take some notes. In order to get the full 
import of this incident, I will read that part of Luke where 
it is recorded. I am glad Luke remembered this interesting 

[99] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

story. Matthew, Mark and John, I suppose, never heard of it 
for they said nothing about it. I read the 2nd chapter of Luke 
from the 42nd, to the 50th verse : 

"And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jeru- 
salem after the custom of the feast. And when they had ful- 
filled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried be- 
hind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 
But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a 
day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk 
and acquaintances. And when they found him not they turned 
back again to Jerusalem seeking him. And it came to pass 
that after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting 
in the midst of the doctors, both hearing and asking them 
questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his 
understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they 
were amazed; and his mother said unto him: Son, why hast 
thou dealt thus with us ? Behold thy Father and I have sought 
thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye 
sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's 
business ? And they understood not the saying which he spake 
unto them." 

Now, as I said, I am glad that Luke did not forget this 
story. It throws a world of light on a most important question. 
If there is anybody that knows anything about the father of 
her children, it is a mother. There has been some doubt as 
to who the father of Jesus was. That doubt is forever dis- 
pelled. "Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." 
Whose father? The father of her son, Joseph. Now, as I 
said, a mother ought to know who the father of her son is. 
The mother says it is Joseph. That settles the matter for once 
and for all time. 

There is another lesson I want to draw from this story. 

[ioo] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

Remember we are dealing with a model, and not with common 
humanity. How many of you fathers and mothers would call 
it model conduct on the part of your 12-year old if he should, 
without any word or notice of his intentions, run away with a 
circus or stray to some convention or picnic without your know- 
ledge or consent? And think of a boy not bright enough to 
inform his parents where he was going, asking questions and 
discussing propositions in the temple. 

This is the only incident recorded as to the conduct of 
Jesus between infancy and manhood. If his general conduct 
may be judged from this example, it did not even attain a pass- 
ing grade. In the light of this incident, the boyhood of Jesus 
was a huge failure. 

It may appear embarrassing to some to hear me speak in 
this manner of the much lauded name of Jesus; but having 
children of my own, and having had occasion to be in ignorance 
of their whereabouts for an hour or two, and having been sent 
out by a "sorrowing" mother to seek the stray and truant, 
I know all about this matter; and there are no preachers or 
bibles who will convince me that a 12-year old has any right 
whatsoever to attend to any "business' ' without first obtaining 
the permission of his parents. 

About a year ago a certain boy hired out to a farmer. He 
went and worked for several days and suddenly disappeared. 
The farmer said that the boy had complained of sickness and 
that he had sent him home. The boy started for town and 
that was the last any one had seen of him. I tell you I saw a 
mother seeking for that son ' ' sorrowing. ' ' For three days the 
town turned out to look for the missing boy. On the fourth 
day word came from a ditch camp that the boy was there. He 
had met another boy and had accompanied him to the camp. 
There is scarcely another act that a boy could commit so 

[IOI] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

fraught with mischief and sorrow as to run away without the 
knowledge of his parents. 

I can't for the life of me see why this act of Jesus should 
not meet with universal condemnation. But this is a case 
where the words of Lowell "A lie may hide a whole age 
longer behind a fair name" are fully realized. This act on 
the part of Jesus, puts him on a lower level than that of many 
other boys and deprives him of all claims to posing as a model. 

With the Devil and Wild Beasts. 

As to the conduct or occupation on the part of Jesus after 
this incident until we find him in the act of being baptized 
and living where he was "with the wild beasts" and "the 
devil," we are in absolute darkness. 

But the transition from a truant to a hermit does not be- 
speak an interval of anything like a model life. We will enter 
into no speculation. 

"Then was Jesus led by the spirit into the wilderness." 
Mark puts it this way: "And immediately the spirit driveth 
him into the wilderness, and he was there in the wilderness 
forty days tempted of Satan and was with the wild beasts, 
and the angels ministered unto him." 

Matthew says he was tempted by the devil after he had 
fasted forty days and forty nights. Now will some one in the 
name of common sense tell me what all this has to do with a 
model life? What kind of thing, being or stuff is "the spirit?" 
What kind of saint, sinner or subject is the devil and Satan? 
Why on earth should a man refuse to eat for forty days and 
nights and why stay with wild beasts in the wilderness ? And then 
look at those singular conversations with the devil. And how did 
they ever get to the pinnacle of the temple ? And who were ' ' the 
angels" and how did they "minister unto him?" 

[102] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

I suppose a model life requires all this, and only the man 
who gets baptized and fasts forty days and forty nights in the 
wilderness with the wild beasts to be tempted by the devil is a 
true follower of Jesus. 

But here is where the trouble begins. In this twentieth 
century a man is surely up against it. Somehow spirits, the 
devil, the wilderness and the wild beasts as well as the angels 
are to a great extent unknown quantities. A man might 
possibly go to some wild place in the mountains and find wild 
beasts; but as for spirits, devils and angels, it would take even 
a greater hunter than Jake Borah or Teddy Roosevelt to find 
them. And as to fasting forty days and forty nights — I think 
you don't want that kind of model. I am sure I don't. I'll 
take mine after the American style with three square meals a 
day. I believe in the religion of plenty and well-cooked food. 

One thing I forgot to mention: " Again the devil taketh 
him up into an exceedingly high mountain, and showeth him 
all the kingdoms of the world: and saith unto him: 'All these 
things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me.' " 

There are two propositions in this story which I mean to 
call to your attention. From which mountain could anyone 
see "all the kingdoms of the world?" This is a question for 
geographers to settle, but even an ordinary man can rub up 
against this proposition. Suppose a person would ascend to 
the top of the highest mountain in the whole world how many 
kingdoms could he survey? Suppose you should be on top of 
Pike's Peak — how much of Mexico or Canada could you see; 
or on Mount Everest, how much of Europe and Africa could 
you see? The kingdoms which can be seen from any "Ex- 
ceeding high mountain" are but few and can under no consid- 
eration include more than a very small fraction of the king- 
doms of the world." 

[103] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

Now when people write model stories it seems to me they 
should pay some little regard to geography and natural science 
in their descriptions; but here we have an instance so glar- 
ingly inconsistent with reason that doubt has the right of way. 

The other proposition is this: Here was a chance to get 
all that Jesus came to the world for by the utterance of three 
words. The devil had the world in his knapsack. Jesus came 
to take it away from him. Now here was a chance for a trade. 
Without any labor. No crucifixion. No missionary work. 
No war or rumors of war. No Spanish inquisitions. No so- 
cieties for the suppression of vice. No Sabbath leagues. No 
Y. M. C. A.'s. No Popes and no Mormons. Everything for 
three words. What in comparison to a saved world do three 
words amount to? A whole world with all its glory for three 
words : "I adore you. ' ' 

Here the Czar of Russia and the Pope of Rome and Chris- 
tion Spain and France and Germany and England and America, 
all working like vultures to get the world away from the devil 
for ages ; and there it was, for three insignificant words. 

In passing from this phase of the life of Jesus, I wish to 
say that in a model life, as we know life, and in the light of 
science and reason, any attempt to do as Jesus did would be 
both unwise and impossible. 

The conversations as recorded between Jesus and the devil 
are unthinkable and have no place in the sane and sound cir- 
cles of human activity. 

The example is the worst possible because of its fatal 
effects upon life, its distortion of truth and its utter impossi- 
bility. 

The Preacher. 

In taking up the life of Jesus as a preacher we are again 
confronted with the same exceptionable propositions. After the 

[104] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

lapse of two thousand years, the world is still in doubt as 
to what the "kingdom of heaven" represents. It is sometimes 
spoken of as a system of morals, and then again as a system of 
rites and ceremonies, and again as a place in the skies. In gen- 
eral the church makes it appear as a mixture of human and 
divine forces at war with each other along every line, except 
where some one with a smooth tongue and a large amount of 
ambition succeeds in persuading his fellows that he has re- 
ceived the divine light and knows just what the " Kingdom' ' 
is and how to get into it. 

In this way more than 500 different sects have sprung 
into existence, and each and every one claims to be possessed 
of the true definition of the "Kingdom." The Catholic and 
the Protestant each takes a corner of it and then stab each other 
in front, flank and back, with a hatred and fierceness such as 
is found among no other class of men. And then there are 
the Mormons and the Christian Scientists in the other corners, 
snarling and growling and ready to fly at each others' throats. 

From the very beginning, the doctrines of Jesus caused 
separation and strife among men. There is no liberty or 
liberality in the preaching of the kingdom. Jesus sets himself 
up as infallible and tolerates no question as to his authority. 
On the one hand he proclaims that "Heaven and earth shall 
pass away but my word shall not pass away ; ' ' and on the other, 
"He that believeth not shall be damned." 

Now I ask what sensible man will make such claims? 
What modern educated man will say to another that his view 
of a subject (of which nothing definite can be known at all) 
is the eternal truth, and that if he fails to believe he will be 
burned in eternal flames of fire? And this is just what the 
preaching of Jesus amounts to. 

"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord." 

[105] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

"What sane man will set himself thus as Lord over the des- 
tinies of his fellows? Remember we are not dealing with a god. 
You know what Mary said, "I and thy father (Joseph) have 
sought thee sorrowing." 

The church has with much gusto thrown into our face the 
choice of accepting Jesus either as a god or as an impostor. 
The world has hesitated to declare itself a long time. 

We take the church at its word. Either Jesus is the In- 
finite Creator or he is not. We refuse positively to accept Jesus 
as the Creator of the universe. We are convinced that in the 
realm of nature there are no exceptions, that the same power 
which gives life to one human being gives it to all without 
respect of person, and that in natural authority and privilege 
men are equal. 

There are no special orders in nature. There are no divine 
persons and no divine churches. There are men and women. 
All claims of divinity from the first to the last pretender, be he 
Catholic, Protestant or Mormon, prove the claimant to be an 
impostor pure and simple. 

1 * The prayers of Christian, Turk and Jew 
Have one sound up there in the blue, 
And one smell all their incense too. ' ' 

In the light of the preaching of Jesus, the brotherhood of 
man is an utter impossibility. The freedom of conscience and 
the right of individual initiative are under the ban and penalty 
of eternal torments. There is no charity and no liberty in 
the preaching of Jesus. 

The Healer. 
Much clamor has been raised about Jesus "going about 
doing good," and especially about his healing expeditions. 
Here we are once more confronted with the same ques- 

[106] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

tions. "From what mountain can one see and show all the 
kingdoms of the earth?" By what remedies can incurable 
diseases be cured? How much faith does it take to cure a 
headache ? How much to restore a lost arm or leg ? 

What process will raise Lazarus from the dead and what 
process will raise the bones of Peter? 

For ages the church has been preaching: "And these 
signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they 
cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall 
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall 
not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall 
recover. ' ' Mark 16-18-19. 

And what does all this amount to ? It is the easiest thing 
to demonstrate that these signs are not in evidence. 

Modern fakers have worked this scheme to a finish. All 
kinds of healers, male and female, tramps and traitors, prophets 
and preachers, saints and sinners. Hypnotism and Mesmerism. 
Clairvoyance and Christian Science, Dowieism and Spiritualism, 
with a thousand other isms, healing mental hallucinations and 
imaginary diseases. 

Now this healing proposition by faith and other like con- 
fidence games is a great hoax in our day, and one need not re- 
main in ignorance how the game was worked by Jesus. All 
one needs to do is to take one of the fakers and examine his 
methods. Take for instance that great healer Alexander 
Dowie. He will bless a handkerchief and send it by mail a 
thousand miles and it will cure gall stones or a torpid liver, 
but never a lost finger or as much as a visible scratch. Now 
why will a faith healer cure a torpid liver or any internal dis- 
ease, but cannot as much as heal a scratch or restore a hair 
externally? If by faith a man may get a lung or his liver 
mended, why not his bald head ? 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

I will tell you: Because a lung or liver can't be seen. 
The healer can make the victim believe that his lung has a hole 
in it as big as a washtub and then he can make him believe 
he closed it up by his humbug. As long as the hole can't be 
seen, all this is quite possible "to him that believeth." But 
when it comes to covering up the bare spot on the back of a 
man's head, it is a different proposition. This requires more 
than faith. A little real demonstration is here in order, and 
you can call me whatever you please for doubting an ancient 
fad — I have not seen any demonstration as to faith healing, 
even to the extent of restoring a single hair. I am perfectly 
frank in declaring myself thus, for Jesus sets the standard by 
which he must be measured. 

"In my name they shall lay hands on the sick and they 
shall recover." Do you think that I have never seen a believer 
at a sick bed? Do you think that if there were any truth in 
this statement there would ever be a deathbed in Christendom ? 
If I could even catch the faintest glimpse of truth in this doc- 
trine, I would become a Christian this minute. But seeing good 
Christian mothers sick, with homes full of little children, 
with bishops, elder and deacon anguishing with moans and 
shrieks over her and all to no avail, I know, and anybody ought 
to know, that the doctrine is a cruel and insane imposture. 

I am willing to have this thing tested. "If a man drink 
something deadly it shall not hurt him. ' ' Now I am not much 
of a chemist, but bring on your believer and let me fix up a 
dose. Let me put just a small rattler in his bed ; and if he will 
1 ' take him up, " I '11 retire. 

But why speak of these things? The facts are so evident 
that all speculation is entirely out of place. Let the healer restore 
one single limb or heal the merest scratch and that will settle it. 

Now Jesus went about doing good. Everybody ought to 

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IS JESUS A MODEL? 

do some good in order to earn his living. I suppose the man 
who bought a piece of ground did some good, and so did the 
man who "bought five yoke of oxen" or he who "married 
a wife. ' • 

There was one place where Jesus could work no wonders. 
And where was that? Why, where people knew him best. 
In his own home. His own people did not believe in him. 

The Teacher. 

The next phase of the life of Jesus is that of the teacher. 
Perhaps the teacher and preacher stand for one and the same 
thing in the minds of many, but there is this difference: The 
teacher generally presents what is natural and practical, while 
the preacher preaches what is miraculous and incomprehensible. 
The teacher reasons and demonstrates while the preacher by a 
smooth tongue and long face, by promises and by threats, 
through hope and fear, persuades people to believe his incom- 
prehensible pretensions. 

The criterion of a teacher then is his adherence to practi- 
cal and demonstrable things. As to how much of these things 
may be found in the teachings of Jesus, we shall endeavor to 
show. 

Beginning with the sermon on the mount, we have a veri- 
table jungle of the incomprehensible and in many instances a 
complete reversal of what is accepted the world over as the 
first principles in life. Here are the first two declarations of 
the sermon: "Blessed are the poor in spirit " and "Blessed are 
they that mourn/' I may not quite catch the meaning of the 
first, for the word spirit is used in so many different connections 
that I hesitate to assert just what it means. We have the 
joyful spirit and the depressed spirit, and the poor in spirit 
are likely the spiritless, the depressed and despondent. Now 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

just where the blessing of any such condition comes in, I fail 
utterly to comprehend. 

Blessed are the cheerful. Blessed are those full of spirit 
and hope, but sad and sorrowful are the "poor in spirit." 

This is the way the proposition looks to me. 

As to the second, "Blessed are they that mourn," I have 
no hesitation in declaring it frankly and without reserve the 
speech of madness. "Blessed are they that mourn." Have 
I not seen the broken hearted mother beside the coffin of her 
only child? Do I not know the mockery to speak of that as a 
blessing ? Have I not seen children at the grave of their mother, 
shrieking with terror as the clods thundered upon that 
mother's wooden bed? Do you tell me that that is a blessing? 
No greater distortion of common sense and reason could be 
uttered than this. I have heard Sunday School teachers try to 
explain these sayings. I have heard preachers try to excuse them, 
but every effort proved a miserable failure. They are reckless 
and untrue and a burden to any man who supports them. As 
to the promises attached to these expressions, they are equally 
indefensible. ' ' Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ' ' Do you think 
only the poor in spirit will inherit a kingdom? I am of the 
opinion that sunshine will go as far as gloom any time. And as 
for the mourner who will be comforted, would it not be far more 
blessed if there should never be another mourner ? I am sure it 
would. 

But not all of the sermon is of this character. There is 
much chaff but also some wheat. "We are glad to note and give 
credit where credit is due. Some beautiful truth is contained 
in the next four verses : 

"Blessed are the righteous." 
"Blessed are the merciful." 

[no] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

" Blessed are the pure in heart." 
"Blessed are the peace makers." 

But how much of this is original with Jesus ? The prophets 
had preached all of these long before. And in every nation 
can be found similar precepts. Confucius, Gautama and Socrates 
taught all of these sentiments 500 years before. So while giving 
credit to Jesus for these sayings, the world would still contain 
them, even if Jesus had not spoken them. 

But immediately after this comes folly with but few ex- 
ceptions. 

"Blessed are the persecuted." "Blessed are ye when men 
revile you." 

Who does not prefer peace to persecution? Or who would 
not have people speak well of him rather than revile him? 
Surely no man will invite persecution and curses or call him- 
self blessed because he is being hounded by enemies and his 
neighbors. 

But while all the world believes in peace and love, Jesus 
calls it blessed to be persecuted and cursed. 

"Rejoice and be exceeding glad" for being cursed and 
persecuted. Sherman said "War is hell." As all persecution 
and reviling are a species of war, then according to Jesus "War 
is blessed." 

Lincoln said: "With malice toward none, with charity 
for all." I suppose Lincoln was the most persecuted and re- 
viled man of his time. Do you think he rejoiced and was glad 
because the South persecuted and hated him? Is it not a 
most absurd presumption to think that Lincoln rejoiced and was 
glad that the South hated him? And yet here we have Jesus 
expressly calling on his followers to rejoice and be glad that 
people hate them. Commonly, people are sorry that they can- 

[iii] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

not please everybody, but here we have advice to gloat over 
the fact that we are hated. That such perversion of all sense 
should pass as it is being passed for sound teaching is beyond 
comprehension. 

"Ye are the salt of the earth/' Ye who consider that 
"War is blessed" are the salt of the earth. Think of that, 

"Ye are the light of the world." Ye who think that "War 
is blessed" are the light of the world. 

"Blessed is persecution." "Blessed is hate and cursing." 
"Blessed is war." "Blessed is hell." That is what this part 
of the sermon amounts to. 

I wish in this connection to call attention to several pas- 
sages in Mark and show from the position taken by Jesus how 
a spirit of complete separation, defiance and madness on the 
part of his followers is inspired : 

"Come let us reason together," and "Prove all things, hold 
fast that which is good, ' ' are held in utter contempt. 

In Mark 13, 12-13, we find this: "Now the brother shall 
betray the brother to death and the father the son; and the 
children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause 
them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men 
for my name's sake; but he that shall endure unto the end 
shall be saved." 

A little further on in the same chapter, he continues: "And 
then if any man shall say to you, Lo here is Christ, or lo he is 
there, believe him not. For false Christs and false prophets 
shall rise to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. ' ' 

Again he says : " If a man hate not his father and mother, 
his wife and children, he cannot be my disciple." 

Now if there ever was an attack made upon the family and 
home, this is it. 

"Be reconciled to thy brother," and "Agree with thine ad- 

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IS JESUS A MODEL? 

versary," fall to the ground as treason and treachery in the 
light of the above language. 

1 1 He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. ' ' 
Not the peacemaker. Not the meek. Not he nor she who abides 
by the will of the majority, but he who sticks to an opinion in 
spite of everything. He who sets himself against the whole 
world. He who never abitrates, never reasons, never compro- 
mises, never admits a mistake, never changes his opinion. This 
is the model here pictured by Jesus. 

Go to the dungeon. Be the foe of your country. Hate 
your household, suffer torture, banishment, death, but stick 
to what I say. Stick to me. Stick to my opinions. Stick to 
Christianity. Never mind reason. Never mind science. Pay 
no attention to any one but me. All others are deceivers. I 
alone am he. I alone am the truth. All others are felons and 
seducers. 

Here is a clipping from a prominent religious paper which 
shows the disposition of Jesus as reflected from the disposition 
of his followers. The original is by Bishop C. H. Fowler and 
was copied in the Evangelical Messenger, so that it not only 
represents Bishop Fowler's view but also that of the editor 
who reproduced it. The extract is headed "No Compromise" 
and is as follows: 

"Christianity enters a country challenging every super- 
stition and defying all the false gods. She has no compromise. 
She cannot sit down in any pantheon. Everything must yield 
to her. When the ark of the covenant enters a temple all the 
idols must fall on their faces and go into fragments. She 
cannot accommodate herself to ancestral worship. While she says, 
'Honor thy father and thy mother,' she cannot for one mo- 
ment tolerate the worship of father and mother. She cannot 
help support the feasts and theatrical performances for the 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

honor or support of idolatry. She can hardly take a step in any 
direction that she does not antagonize some superstition. It 
is not strange that her representatives should soon be marked 
as enemies of the convictions of the common people. It is only 
natural that persecution should mark the history of every ad- 
vance of Christianity. It is to the glory of mission work in 
China that China is no exception to this law." 

This is the teaching of Jesus, — the narrowest, the cruelest 
and the maddest of all systems of thought in the whole world. 

Now let us make some comparisons. Let us see what 
others say as to the duty of men with regard to the opinions 
of others. 

Here is something from the religion of Buddha: "As a 
mother even at the risk of her own life, protects her son, her 
only son; so let men cultivate good will without measure to- 
ward the whole world, above, below, around, unstinted, un- 
mixed with any feeling of differing or opposing interests. This 
state of heart is the best in the world." 

Jesus never said anything anywhere near as beautiful as 
this. "Cultivate good will without measure toward the whole 
world." That is a message of peace. "He that believeth 
not shall be damned." That is a message of war, pure and 
simple. 

Here are a few stanzas from Socrates : 

"It is right that you should both speak and ask whatever 
you please." 

"To affirm positively one's opinion does not become a man 
of sense." 

"Hatred of reasoning and hatred of mankind spring from 
the same source." 

"Pay little attention to Socrates but much more to the 
truth." 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

Now I might continue these passages indefinitely from a 
dozen ancient writers, but I want to note some views along this 
line of our own time. Here is something from Washington. 

"In disputes be not so desirous to overcome as not to 
give liberty to each one to deliver his opinion. Submit to the 
judgment of the majority. In all cases let reason govern." 

The following is from Thomas Jefferson: "It behooves 
every man who values liberty of conscience for himself to 
resist invasion of it, in the case of others, for their case may, 
/by change of circumstances, become his own. It behooves 
him, too, in his own case to give no example of concession 
betraying the right of independent thought by answering ques- 
tions of faith which the laws have left between God and him- 
self." 

"I have always strenuously supported the right of every 
man to his opinion, however different that opinion might be 
to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave 
of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes him- 
self the right of changing it. ' ' — Thomas Paine. 

"If we had free thought, then we could collect the wealth 
of the world. In the physical, springs make the creeks and 
brooks, and they the rivers, and the rivers empty into the 
great sea. So each brain should add to the sum of human 
knowledge. If we deny freedom of thought, the springs cease 
to gurgle, the rivers to run, and the great ocean of knowledge 
becomes a desert of barren ignorant sand. ' ' — Ingersoll. 

"They are slaves most base 

Whose love of right is for themselves 

And not for all the race." — Lowell. 

"The community which does not protect its humblest and 
most hated member in the free utterances of his opinions, no 

[us] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

matter how false or hateful, is only a gang of slaves." — Wen- 
dell Phillips. 

"Encroachments upon rights of speech and free assem- 
blage which to us seemed false or hateful, we have suddenly- 
found applied to ourselves. Here is repeated again for us the 
warning of which all the histories of liberty are but the record. 
The outposts of our rights are to be found in the maintenance 
of the rights of the least of our brethren. The more odious 
they become the more do we need to keep our lamp of vigil- 
ance trimmed and burning for their defense. It is through 
the weak gate of their uncared for liberty that the despot will 
steal upon us." — Henry D. Lloyd. 

"Do they realize that if the bulwarks of American liberty 
— free speech and free press, with their corollary of free wor- 
ship — were once broken down at the weaker points, the whole 
structure would go? 

"If it did not go all at once, it would surely go a little 
at a time. And whether all at once or a little at a time, what 
hope would there be for continued freedom in America? If 
once free speech comes to depend upon the will of the strong- 
est." — Louis F. Post. 

"By liberty was meant protection against the tyranny of 
the political rulers. The rulers were conceived as in a nec- 
essarily antagonistic position to the people whom they ruled. 
"Society can and does execute its own mandates. 

"The greatest writers to whom the world owes what reli- 
gious liberty it possesses, have mostly asserted freedom of 
conscience as an indisputable right, and denied absolutely 
that a human being is accountable to others for his religious 
belief. 

"The liberty of expressing opinions is the same as thought 
itself, and is inseparable from it. ' ' — John Stuart Mill. 

[116] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

And this from Lincoln: " Happy day, when all appetites 
controlled, all passions subdued, all matter subjugated, mind, 
all conquering mind, shall live and move monarch of the world. 
Glorious consummation! Hail, fall of fury! Reign of Rea- 
son, all Hail!" 

Greatest of all in dignity and power, is the voice of a hundred 
million people when they proclaim their independence of every 
authority on the earth and in the heavens by their recognition of, 
and devotion to a government of the people, by the people 
and for the people. 

Let everyone choose between Jesus and Reason. The 
Kingdom of Fury and the Democracy of Common Sense. Rea- 
son and humanity as against superstition and atrocity. Ages 
of human experience and wisdom declaring for equality and 
fellowship, pleading for freedom — freedom of religion, free- 
dom of thought, liberty and liberality in matters of faith. 

The enormity of the crime of Jesus against human liberty 
can only be realized in the light of the horrors of history when his 
spirit was in full force. That spirit drenched the earth with the 
blood of the best and brightest men and women the world has 
contained. That spirit in force today would again produce all 
the horrors of all the dark ages of church history. 

"I am the God." "I am the truth." "If a man believe 
not in me he shall be damned. ' ' Do not blame the Pope or the 
Spanish Inquisitors for the dungeons and fagots of the dark 
ages, but lay the blame where it belongs — at the feet of Jesus 
Christ. 

Taking up the sermon again we pass over a lot of meaning- 
less phrases, until we come to where he said: "Be reconciled to 
thy brother" and "Agree with thine adversary." Now what 
do I mean by meaningless phrases? Here is an example: "But 
whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

To me this passage with others like it means nothing. But if 
any one insists that this statement means what it says, it is one 
evidence that Jesus was not very logical; for, by turning 
over a few pages, I find that he put himself in danger of hell fire 
by denouncing others as " fools and blind guides.' ' Do wise 
men lay down laws and then deliberately break them? I don't 
think so. But this is what Jesus did in a great many instances. 

" Agree with thine adversary quickly while thou art in the 
way of him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the 
judge and the judge deliver thee to the officer and thou be cast 
into prison. ' ' 

"Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out 
thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. ' ' 

Now there is a law. It is a true law founded on nature, and 
the life of Jesus bears witness to that effect. 

Did Jesus agree with his adversaries ? Did he offer to arbi- 
trate any question ? He had plenty of adversaries, but he failed 
to agree with them. He broke his own law and suffered the 
consequence which he knew would befall him if he failed to agree. 
The only difference was that he was crucified instead of being cast 
into prison. Do wise men commit such follies? People with 
sound minds observe what they know to be the truth especially 
where their own life and liberty is in danger. And they will 
not preach and proclaim their convictions and then by every act 
give them the lie. 

' i Judge not that ye be not judged, for with what judgment 
ye judge, ye shall be judged ; and with what measure ye mete, it 
shall be measured to you again. ' ' That explains why Jesus was 
crucified. He failed to recognize the law of compensation. He 
received the same measure in return that he gave to others. He 
was crucified and reaped what he had sown. 

Do you think a man can continually hurl curses against his 

[118] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

people and not bring upon his head the full measure of his folly ? 
He preached that we should love our enemies yet failed utterly 
to show the least respect for his. He preached that we should do 
good for evil yet cursed with hell and damnation every one not 
of his opinion. 

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye 
are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful 
outwardly, but within are full of dead men's bones and of all un- 
cleanliness. "— Matt. 23, 27. 

"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can you escape 
the damnation of hell V— Matt. 23, 33. 

Think of a man talking about agreeing with his adversaries 
and loving his enemy and advising others to "Judge not" and to 
do good for evil, using language like that ? 

"Ye have heard that it hath been said Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your 
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate 
you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute 
you."— Matt. 5, 43-44. 

No man ever repudiated these precepts more completely than 
did Jesus himself. 

"Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off 
and cast them from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life 
halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be 
cast into everlasting fire." — Matt. 18, 8. 

"I am come into this world that they which see not might 
see ; and that they which see might be blind. — John 9, 39. 

"Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth 
shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth 
shall be loosed in heaven." — Matt. 18, 18. 

"Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal 
life."— John 6,54. 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." — Matt. 
28, 18. 

Good sense never uttered rubbish like this. 

During the Dark Ages it was a common practice among 
Christians to cripple and maim themselves on the strength of the 
first of these passages, hoping thereby to escape the wrath of God. 

As to the other passages, they are as chaotic as anything can 
be. Think of one set of men having power over the life and 
destiny of other men not only on earth but throughout all future 
ages. Could anything be more unreasonable and unjust than 
this ? It is positively absurd. 

There are a great many other precepts wholly impracticable. 

1 ' But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to 
him the other also; if he take thy coat, let him have thy cloak 
also."— Matt. 5, 39. 

"Take no thought for your life."— Matt. 6, 25. 

"Blessed be ye poor." — Luke 6, 20. 

"Blessed are ye who hunger." — Luke 6, 21. 

"Take no thought for the morrow. y, —Matt. 6, 34. 

"He that loveth father and mother more than me is not 
worthy of me."— Matt. 10, 37. 

"Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do." — 
John 14, 13. 

All these sayings find no place in rational thought. They 
are unsound both in precept and in practice and are altogether 
worthless. 

The teachings of Jesus include some of the most awful curses 
ever uttered. 

His chief occupation was pronouncing judgments and de- 
nouncing and degrading all who did not bow down and worship 
him. His idea of fellowship and love extended no further than 
to those who accepted his creed. So the fellowship and love of his 

[120] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

followers. It included only the disciples, and all men were 
judged from the viewpoint of ' ' He who is not for me is against 
me" and "Whosoever shall deny me, him also will I deny." 

"Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command."- — John 
15, 14. 

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" seems good 
Christian doctrine. Even the very bonds of blood relation are 
ignored unless the creed is accepted. 

' ' If thy brother neglect to hear the church, let him be unto 
thee as an heathen man and a publican." — Matt. 18-17. 

There is no neutral ground in the philosophy of Jesus ; either 
join his party or be damned. Either accept his doctrine or suf- 
fer destruction. All this is further emphasized in his parables. 
With but few exceptions, they are void of every symptom of a 
spirit of charity and respect for those not of the creed. 

"And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and 
doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man." — Matt. 7, 26. 
The meanest and narrowest view a man can possibly hold is here 
represented. "Everybody is a fool but me." Is not the fool- 
ishness of such an utterance, one more evidence of the deplorable 
inconsistency of Jesus ? 

In the parable of the sower, the same narrow view is repre- 
sented. Jesus is the sower (preacher) and only those are capable 
of bearing fruit (doing good) who accept his doctrine. 

Still worse, if possible, is the parable of the tares: "The 
field is the world ; the good seed are the children of the kingdom ; 
but the tares are the children of the wicked one; as therefore 
the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be at the 
end of the world. 

"The son of man shall gather out of his kingdom all things 
that offend and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

a furnace of fire where shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ' ' — 
Matt. 13, 38-42. 

Let us look at this declaration from the standpoint of our 
own time. Let us look at it from several angles of the Christian 
religion. The Catholic takes it for granted that he alone is the 
wheat, and that all other believers and unbelievers are tares and 
of course will be cast into the furnace where shall be wailing 
and gnashing of teeth. Now that will be mighty hard on the 
Protestants, Mormons and the free thinkers. To be cast into a 
furnace of fire where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth for 
no other reason than for not being a Catholic seems mighty unrea- 
sonable. But the Mormons think just like the Catholics. And 
the Protestants think the same about the Mormons and free 
thinkers. Now where does this outrageous and inhuman doctrine 
come from ? From none other than Jesus Christ. 

The same spirit is contained in the parables, of "The wed- 
ding of the King's son/' "The sheep and goats," "The rich man 
and Lazarus, " besides several others. Always death and 
destruction for those not of the faith. 

"But those mine enemies which would not that I should 
reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me.'' — Luke 
19, 27. 

"Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared 
for the devil and his angels. " — Matt. 25, 41. 

"Bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him 
into outer darkness, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of 
teeth."— Matt. 22, 13. 

Think of a being who would inflict such tortures simply be- 
cause others differed from him in their opinions! Will you 
tell me that such a being is worthy of admiration and imitation ? 

[122] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

RICHES AND POVERTY. 

There is another defect to which I want to refer and that is 
his teaching with regard to riches and poverty or labor and 
capital. Not only is the church the victim of the folly of Jesus, 
but also our industrial system has its most oppressive roots in his 
teachings. While condemning riches, he never once rejects the 
laws by which riches are gained. Nor does he at any time refer 
to poverty as even an inconvenience, but blesses and recommends 
it. 

"Blessed be ye poor." — Luke 6, 20. 

"Lay not up for yourself treasures upon earth." — Matt. 6, 
19. 

"Take no thought for your life. Behold the fowls of the 
air, for they sow not neither do they reap. Consider the lilies ; 
they toil not neither do they spin. ' ' 

"Therefore, take no thought saying, what shall we eat, or 
what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed. Suf- 
ficient unto the day is the evil thereof." — Matt. 6, 25-28. 

This is the gospel of vagrants and tramps. ' ' They sow not 
neither do they reap, ' 9 but they are the patrons of the back yard 
and the hay mow. 

"The poor ye shall have with you always." These are the 
highest hopes and aspirations of our model in the realm of indus- 
trial activity. 

Almost as mistaken is his view of the rich. While great and 
useless wealth is an evidence of unkindness and often greed, the 
judicious use of wealth is conducive to human happiness and 
ought to be so considered. 

The condemnation of the rich is useless. The praise and 
recommendation of poverty and vagrancy is pernicious. 

But what I wish to mention in particular is his view with 

[123] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

regard to the accumulation of riches and the rights and powers 
which are ascribed to their possessors as just and lawful. 

The predominating principle of his view is that speculation, 
gambling and usury are perfectly legitimate means in obtaining 
wealth. 

"A certain nobleman went into a far country. And he 
called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds, and said 
unto them : Occupy until I come. And it came to pass that when 
he was returned he commanded these servants to be called unto 
him that he might know how much every man had gained by 
trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord thy pound hath 
gained ten pounds. And he said unto him : Well done, thou good 
servant ; because thou hast been faithful in the very little, have 
thou authority over ten cities. 

"And the second came saying, Lord thy pound has gained 
five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou likewise over 
five cities." 

"And another came saying, Lord behold here is thy pound 
which I have kept laid up in a napkin. For I feared thee, be- 
cause thou art an austere man ; thou takest up that thou layedst 
not down and reapest that thou didst not sow. 

"And he sayeth unto him, Thou wicked servant. Where- 
fore then gavest not thou my money unto the bank, that at my 
coming I might have required mine own with usury. ' ' 

"And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the 
pound and give it to him that hath ten pounds. For I say unto 
you that unto everyone which hath shall be given ; and from him 
that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from 
him."— Luke 19, 12-26. 

This is the gospel of the jungle, of the wolf and shark. The 
wounded wolf is eaten by the pack. The big fish eat the little 
ones. The strong and cunning rule the jungle. 

[124] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

This gospel is the foundation of every sweatshop, every 
adulteration, every monopoly, every corruption, every eviction. 
All child slavery has its source in this gospel. Every land shark, 
every stock gambler, every "get-rich-quick" schemer finds praise 
and justification in this, for the successful accomplishment of his 
schemes. Get the pound and get the cities. Never mind how 
many are maimed and crippled or oppressed or starved. Get the 
pounds. And the more you have, the more you shall take from 
those who have not. 

This taking from the poor and giving it to the rich, as de- 
scribed in the last verse quoted, is heartless and cruel in the ex- 
treme. This parable is the authority from which Christian com- 
merce and business receives its death-dealing functions. 

The same unreasonable disposition is shown in the parable 
of the laborers. "And when he (the employer) had agreed with 
the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 
And he went out about the third hour and the sixth and ninth and 
the eleventh and saw others and said unto them, Go ye also into 
the vineyard and whatsoever is right, that ye shall receive. 

"So when even was come the Lord gave them their hire. 

"And when they came that were hired about the eleventh 
hour they received every man a penny. 

"But when the first came, they received likewise every man 
a penny. And they murmured saying, These last have wrought 
but one hour and thou hast made them equal unto us which have 
borne the burden and heat of the day. 

"But he answered and said, Is it not lawful for me to do 
what I will with my own?'- Mat. 20, 2-15. 

There was nothing to arbitrate. Might makes right. A 
penny an hour or a penny a day or a penny a week all remains 
with the owner. The capitalist can do with his own as he pleases. 
Labor has no voice as to what it shall receive. 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

"Is it not lawful to do what I will with my own?" This is 
the justification of capitalism for grinding and crushing human 
flesh and bone in its mills and mines. 

This is the justification of society for paying a penny to the 
worker and a pound to the shirker. 

This is the justification of greed and avarice in crushing out 
the life of its victims. It is cruel. It is wicked. It is unjust. 

Jesus failed in the first law of life — self-preservation, and he 
failed in the second — the perpetuation of his kind. 

A model life necessarily includes the building of a home and 
domestic relationship. "Without these the human race would 
perish from the earth. 

Only the abnormal in their desires, the freak and the in- 
sane refrain from entering domestic relations. 

The life of Jesus both in precept and example is an utter 
failure, and the drinking of poison would not be more destruct- 
ive to life than the following of the precepts and example of 
Jesus. To imitate this life would put the brand of madness on 
the brow of a saint. To follow his precepts would do the same. 

The Outlaw. 

Another phase of the life of Jesus is that of the Outlaw. 
Appropriating! without permission and destruction of other 
people's property are just causes for charges of lawlessness. 

Count the first. "So the devils besought him, saying, "If 
thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine 
And he said unto them, Go. And they went into the swine 
and the whole herd ran into the sea and perished in the waters. ' ' 
Matt. 8, 31. 

The manner in which the swine were destroyed is not the 
question. The question is by whose order and authority were 
they destroyed? If Jesus had sent bullets among the swine 

[,26] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

instead of devils, the effect would have been the same. Jesus was 
responsible for their destruction and must be regarded as one who 
deliberately destroyed another's property. 

Count the second. In the next place, we find that " Jesus 
went through the corn, and his disciples were an hungered 
and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat." Matt. 12, 1. 

Whose corn was it? It is not likely that Jesus or his 
disciples owned any corn, for men tramping from one place 
to another don't raise corn. Did they have permission either 
To go "through the corn" or "pluck the ears and eat?" I 
don't know. The disciples took the corn. It looks very much 
like a case of "stealing watermelons." In the absence of any 
evidence to the contrary, I charge Jesus by implication as 
deliberately committing theft by permitting and upholding 
his disciples in the act of appropriating other people 's property. 

Count the third. "And when he saw a fig tree in the way 
he came to it and found nothing thereon but leaves only, and 
said unto it: Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth forever, 
and presently the fig tree withered away." Matt. 21, 19. 

I charge Jesus in this count with lawlessly and deliber- 
ately destroying public property. 

Count the fourth. "And when he had made a scourge of 
small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep 
and oxen; and poured out the changers' money and overthrew 
their tables. ' ' John 2, 15. 

I charge Jesus in this count with assault and battery, with 
rioting and depriving others of their rightful possessions, both 
in money, stock and furniture. 

Count the fifth. "And Jesus went into the temple and 
began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple 
and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

of them that sold doves and would not suffer that any man 
should carry any vessel through the temple." Mark 11, 15. 

I charge Jesus in this count with assault, rioting, depriving 
people of property and holding up a public place. 

It must be remembered in connection with the last two 
counts that Jesus was neither an officer of the temple nor of 
the government, and that his actions were purely what is 
known as "mob law." He took the law into his hands and 
proceeded to enforce his own measures without the sanction 
of either the religious or the civil authorities. 

"He drove them out with a scourge," thus sanctioning the 
use of force and violence by private citizens. 

Count the sixth. "Then sent Jesus two disciples saying 
unto them: Go into the village over against you and straight- 
way ye shall find an ass tied and a colt with her; loose them 
and bring them unto me. And if any man say aught unto you, 
ye shall say : The Lord hath need of them. ' ' Matt. 21, 1, 2. 

In the absence of any evidence that Jesus owned or was 
borrowing the ass, I charge him with wrongfully appropriating 
and using other people's property. The disciples when asked 
what they loosed the ass for did not say : ' ' The master owns 
her" or "the owner gave us permission," but only "The Lord 
hath need of her," indicating that because Jesus wanted her 
he simply went and took her. Evidently a case of "rustling." 
John says, "They found a young ass." In other words: they 
appropriated a young ass. 

The defenders of Jesus may claim that under the Jewish 
laws some of these charges did not constitute misdemeanors 
or offences ; but we are not dealing with Jewish laws but with 
model conduct such as can be approved by the highest and 
most enlightened authority. From the standpoint of present 

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IS JESUS A MODEL? 

day law and custom, each count is in a greater or less measure 
a criminal or civil offence. 

I further charge him with treason against the government 
of his country. The object of such a demonstration as he en- 
tered into and conducted by riding into Jerusalem on an ass, 
with the multitude crying " Blessed be the king that cometh 
in the name of the Lord" (Luke 19, 38.) could only mean insur- 
rection. Some of the more level headed among the crowd, 
seeing the danger of such a demonstration against the govern- 
ment, reminded Jesus that the king was going too far and told 
him to "rebuke his disciples." And this is what he answered: 
"I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones 
would immediately cry out. ' ' Luke 19, 40. 

Now it is said that "All this was done that it might be 
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: Tell ye the 
daughter of Zion, Behold thy King cometh unto thee, meek and 
sitting upon an ass. ' ' Matt. 21, 4-5. 

The object was to fulfill prophecy — to restore Zion to a 
kingdom where Jesus was to be the King. That's why the 
ass had been appropriated. That's why there was a demonstra- 
tion. Jerusalem was to be taken and Jesus was to reign as 
"King of the Jews." 

But when he came near to Jerusalem and saw the strong 
city unconcerned about him in front, and a few weak-kneed 
followers behind, he was overcome with chagrin and envy so 
that "he wept" with despair, anger and fury. And once more 
he began to hurl his curses upon "those who would not that 
he should reign over them." 

"The days shall come upon thee that thy enemies shall 
cast a trench about thee and compass thee round and keep 
thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground and 

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AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

thy children with thee, and shall not leave in thee one stone 
upon another." Luke 19, 43-44. 

Some call this prophecy. But since to this day some of the 
stones are still lying "one upon another,'' and since Jesus 
made a great number of predictions about that which would 
happen to his enemies, all of which were nothing but childish 
animosities, so, that prediction is purely a curse uttered in a 
spirit of hate and revenge. 

In common life the world over, it is recognized that no 
one can foretell even a minute of the future; but Jesus under- 
took to foretell all things, even the end of the world. This 
presumption to know the events of the future is another evi- 
dence of the irrational quality of his mind. 

But the most incomprehensible of all, is his conduct in con- 
nection with his arrest and trial before Pilate. 

Here was a man presuming to be a king, taking the 
law into his own hands, and entering into a demonstration to 
take possession of his kingdom — rioting in the temple — a 
raving, cursing anarchist, and the authorities seemingly un- 
concerned, all of which is evidence that they regarded him 
as one infirm and irresponsible. 

Even after he had confessed treason by admitting that he 
was King of the Jews, Pilate looked upon him not as a criminal 
but as the pitiful friendless object that he was. "Thou sayest." 
With that the last ray of light fled. The instinct of self- 
preservation had completely passed away. 

"And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, 
he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him : Hearest thou 
how many things they witness against thee ? 

"And he answered him never a word insomuch that the 
governor marveled greatly." Matt. 27, 12-14. 

Will you tell me that anyone but an infirm person could 

[130] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

act in that manner? Paul did not act that way when he was 
accused. Socrates did not. Luther did not. Nothing but 
weakness could remain deaf and dumb in a situation like that. 
Only once after this did he speak, and again he uttered the cry 
of despair. "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 
Matt. 27, 46. 

Had God forsaken him? I think not. He was receiving 
the measure he had given. He was reaping what he had sown. 
Had he not for three years hurled curses and damnation 
against his countrymen? Had he not defied their laws, their 
customs and their religion? Had he not committed the gravest 
blunders by declaring himself as the special favorite of God — 
the son of God — and pretended to be one and equal with God? 
Had he not taken the law into his hands and "cleaned out" 
the temple several times? Had he not committed treason 
against his government by declaring himself King of the Jews ? 

All this was now thrown at him, and he could not answer 
a single count. The wonder of it is that he lasted so long. 
We look with sorrow and pity on the lif e % of that unfortunate 
man, but also with horror and disgust because of the mischief 
that he did. The world has groaned with fear and terror under 
the pretensions and threats of Jesus, and it may be centuries 
before the evil can be fully purged. 

As King and Judge. 

There was a widespread craze a few years ago as to how 
Jesus would do this and that. How he would run a newspaper 
was one of the popular attractions. Running newspapers is 
a very common thing, in our times ; and of course it was natural 
for the disciples to look for a pattern in the life of Jesus and 
ask, What would Jesus do ? 

Eight or ten centuries ago the question was not how Jesua 

[131] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

would run a newspaper, but how he would run a government. 
The question, What would Jesus do? was a very popular one; 
and in order to walk "in his steps," there was a hunt for cri- 
teria, and this is what they found: "The son of man shall 
send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom 
all things that offend and them which do iniquity, and shall 
cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and 
gnashing of teeth.' ' Matt. 13, 41, 42. 

"The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from 
among the just and shall cast them into a furnace of fire ; there 
shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth/' Matt. 13, 49-50. 

"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared 
for the devil and his angels." Matt. 25, 41. 

" If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and 
is withered ; and men gather them and cast them into the fire 
and they are burned." John 15, 6. 

Here we have four direct and very plain samples of how 
Jesus would run a government. The manner in which he would 
deal with those that "offend and do iniquity" or the "wicked" 
and those who are "cursed" and fail to "abide in him," is as 
plain as ink can put it on paper. 

There are a number of other instances where purging 
by fire is recommended. Jesus believed in burning, not plain, 
ordinary burning, but tormenting with fire amid wailing and 
gnashing of teeth. Mere burning would be a comparative 
blessing to the method of burning recommended by Jesus. 
Nothing less than "everlasting fire" seems to satisfy his appe- 
tite for revenge and fury. This of course the "angels" of the 
church could not quite reach, but they certainly made stren- 
uous efforts to walk "In his steps" as nearly as possible. 

Another example followed by the disciples of Jesus was 
casting into darkness those not in harmony with his wishes. 

[132] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

"And when the king came to see the guests, he saw there 
a man which had not on a wedding garment. Then said the 
king to his servants, Bind him hand and foot and take him 
away and cast him into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth.' J Matt. 22, 11-13. 

"And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; 
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matt. 25, 30. 

"But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into 
outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 
Matt. 8, 12. 

"And these shall go away into everlasting punishment.' ' 
Matt. 25, 46. 

Here again are four examples of how Jesus would run a 
government, and we find that his examples bore rich fruit 
during the days and ages when his followers could run the 
government and walk "In his steps." 

There may be some doubt as to how Jesus would run a news- 
paper or plant potatoes or build a home or select a wife and raise 
a family ; but as to how he would run a government or a supreme 
court, he left no doubt whatever. 

He exercised and exhibited not only the most revengeful 
hatred and thirst for the life of those who opposed him, but 
even those who remained in a neutral state of mind were 
consigned to the same fearful punishment. There's no sym- 
pathy or kindly feeling for those who refused to accept his 
doctrine. Even the very dust on the feet must be shaken off 
as a testimony and curse against the city or house which did 
not receive him. Whole cities were condemned to hell for no 
other reason than that they failed to drop everything and run 
after him. 

"Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! 

[i33] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of 
judgment than for you." Matt. 11, 21-22. 

And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, 
shalt be brought down to hell ; for if the mighty works which 
have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have 
remained until this day. But I say unto you it shall be more 
tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than 
for thee." Matt. 11, 23-24. 

"And whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your 
words, when you depart out of that house or city shake off 
the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more 
tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of 
judgment, than for that city." Matt. 10, 14-15. 

"But into whatsoever city ye enter and they receive you 
not, go your ways out into the streets of the same and say, 
Even the very dust of your city which cleaveth on us do we 
wipe off against you." Luke 10, 10-11. 

Now here is a fine lesson in human brotherhood. Was 
there ever in the records of history a more sinister and un- 
reasonable, not to say malicious and despotic, sentiment mani- 
fested than this? If there was, I have not heard of it. The 
very dust is hateful to this man, simply because people would 
not believe that he was what he said he was. Because they 
declined to regard him as a god or son of god, he cursed them. 

Think of the friendships we would build up if we should 
all curse and hate everybody because they did not quite agree 
with us! Think how peace and love and fellowship would 
flourish if we would despise even the very dust of the streets 
for no other reason than that people did not see fit to accept 
our creed ! 

But this is just the kind of doctrine which is essential 
of the Christian religion. Nothing but the teachings of such 

[^34] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

monstrous falsehoods and perversions could have produced 
the Dark Ages. 

The judgments of Jesus are the most wicked and base ever 
pronounced. To follow them will always end in the most 
intolerable and unhappy results. 

There are many other instances in which the same 
revengeful, jealous and cruel spirit is displayed in the dis- 
courses of Jesus ; but I have mentioned enough to convince any 
fair-minded person that behind the flimsy veil of a few minor 
traits in the character of Jesus, is hidden the most fiendish 
and inhuman disposition which can possibly be imagined. 

But the grand gallery of the frightful finality and un- 
, utterable suffering at the hands of Jesus is recorded in the 
book of Revelations. You can find it in the 14th Chapter, begin- 
ning with the 9th verse : 

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud 
voice : 'If any man worship the beast and his image and receive 
his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink 
of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without 
mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tor- 
mented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy 
angels, and in the presence of the Lamb (Jesus), and the smoke 
of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have 
no rest day or night.' " 

Again, commencing with the 14th verse, I read : 

"And I looked and behold a white cloud, and upon the 
cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on his head 
a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle. And he that 
sat on the cloud thrust his sickle on the earth; and the earth 
was reaped and gathered and cast into the great wine press of the 
wrath of God. 

"And the wine press was trodden without the city and 

[135] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

the blood came out of the wine press even unto the horses' 
bridles by a space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." 

Both of these pictures represent the supposed and uni- 
versally accepted (by all churches) last and final judgment 
and fate of the human race. 

In both of these descriptions, Jesus, under the Nom de 
Plume of "Lamb" and "Son of Man" is the judge and business 
head of the show. 

In the first and third verses of this same chapter, we have 
it definitely stated that 144,000 is the sum total of the "re- 
deemed from the earth." 

Now let us consider first the number of the victims of 
whom it is said that "the smoke of their torments ascendeth 
up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night." 
Let us look the horror of this declaration fairly in the face. 

I have shown you clearly in the words of Jesus that none 
can be saved except through him. All Christian churches 
make this same claim. I have shown that none but the be- 
liever in Jesus escaped from his fury. And here we have it 
announced that 144,000 is the total number of the redeemed. 
Subtract 144,000 from the human race since it first came into 
existence, perhaps over 200,000 years ago. Add to this num- 
ber all who are now on earth and who shall come perhaps for 
500,000 years; and then contemplate 144,000, with "crowns 
and garments washed in blood," but all others, billions of 
billions, tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of 
the holy angels and Jesus Christ ! 

Or take the other picture: "And blood came out of the 
wine press even unto the horses' bridles by a space of a thou- 
sand and six hundred furlongs." There are three furlongs 
in a mile. 1600 divided by three equals 533 1-3. Contemplate 

[136] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

then a space of 533 miles square of human blood "unto the 
horses 's bridles." 

This is the punishment, the revenge, exacted by Jesus and 
for what? Because some one stole his property, or slapped 
his face, or insulted his wife? Nothing of the kind. Wholly 
and solely because people honestly differed from him in their 
opinions. 

The greatest offence against the religion of Jesus Christ 
is to express an honest difference of opinion. The greatest crime 
is to be possessed of a doubt. 

I shall not attempt to describe the accepted 144,000 in 
heaven and the billions in hell. That is the glorious outcome of 
creation according to the gospel of Jesus. There won't be a 
half soul saved in every 100,000,000. There is no other one 
thing in the whole history of the world which has been the 
cause of so much anxiety, so much misery, so much cruelty, 
so much persecution, so much murder and bloodshed as the 
religion of Jesus Christ. 

The terrors of this religion are found in every Christian 
family. The groans of fear and terror, and the lamentations 
for mercy, fill every home with the agonies of hell. The mother, 
rocking her dimpled darling in its cradle, looks forward and 
sinks to her knees with sighs and sobs, supplicating the empty 
skies for aid and guidance that her darling may enter the 
"straight and narrow way;" for she is taught that only a few 
find it. On the other hand, it is said that "wide is the gate 
and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many 
there be which go in thereat. ' ' 

And think what that means for the poor mother heart. 
Nine chances out of ten, she is raising fuel for hell. Poor 
mothers, my heart goes out to you under this shadow; but, be- 
lieve me, your child is in no danger of these painted terrors. 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

Jesus is a pretense, Hell a fiction, Christianity a swindle. 

In the churches we have the same evidence of fear and 
misery. Whole congregations with faces ashen and distorted, 
moaning and groaning for salvation from the wrath of their 
jealous and furious master. Men with loud voices, kneeling 
in the dust, shouting and begging for mercy from a throne 
where nothing but tyranny and despotism reign. Women wail- 
ing and whining with fright and terror. All gladness, all joy, 
all laughter, all the natural instincts of the human heart frozen 
or petrified into a solemn, awful distraction called religion — 
the religion of Jesus Christ. 

These things all of you know and it is not necessary for 
me to dwell on them. Of the horrors of the Christian religion 
as a government, you are not so well informed; and I wish to 
use the rest of my time by reading a number of extracts 
from the history of the Christian religion when it had control 
over the destinies of men, conducting their government on the 
principles of the religion of Jesus Christ. 

In deciding as to the source of these extracts, I was con- 
fronted with the question as to the availability of a number 
of works ; and after looking over some of them, I decided to fall 
back to one of my old favorites. And it is not a favorite merely, 
because it contains what I am about to read to you, but because 
of its scientific value in the investigation of a great many 
subjects. 

The work is called "The Philosophy of Religion' ' and 
was written by Thomas Dick, LL. D., an English Christian 
scholar and scientist, about the year 1827. 

I have accused Jesus as having furnished both the spirit 
of persecution as well as the methods of persecution. I will 
now show that in order to produce all the horrors of Christian 
history, it was only necessary for his followers to abide by 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

his word and walk in his steps; or, in other words, to do as 
Jesus would do. 

I read under the "Moral State of the professing Christian 
world' ' on page 169, as follows: 

"The establishment of the Inquisition is another mode in 
which the tyranny and cruelty of the Romish church has been 
displayed. This court was founded in the 12th century by 
Father Dominic, who was sent by Pope Innocent III with 
orders to excite the Catholic princes and people to extirpate 
heretics. It is scarcely possible to conceive any institution 
more directly opposed to the dictates of justice and humanity 
than this infernal tribunal. The proceedings against the un- 
happy victim are conducted with the greatest secrecy. The 
person granted them as counsel is not permitted to converse 
with them except in the presence of the Inquisitors. 

The prisoners are kept for a long time, till they themselves 
through the application of torture, turn their own accusers, 
for, they are neither told their crime, nor confronted with 
witnesses. When there is no shadow of proof against the 
pretended criminal, he is discharged after suffering the most 
cruel tortures, a tedious and dreadful imprisonment and the 
loss of the greatest part of his effects. "When he is convicted 
and condemned, he is led in procession with other unfortunate 
beings, on the festival of the Auto da fe to the place of execu- 
tion. He is clothed with a garment, painted with flames and 
with his own figure, surrounded by dogs, serpents and devils, 
all open mouthed as if ready to devour him. Such of the 
prisoners as declare that they die in the communion of the 
church of Rome, are first strangled and then burned to ashes. 
Those who die in any other faith are burned alive. The priests 
tell them that they leave them to the devil who is standing 
at their elbows to receive their souls and carry them with 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

them into the flames of hell. Flaming torches fastened to 
long poles are then thrust against their faces till they are 
burned to a coal, all of which is accompanied with the loudest 
acclamations of joy among the thousands of spectators. At 
last fire is set to the fuel at the bottom of the stake, over which 
the criminals are chained so high that the top of the flame 
seldom reaches higher than the seat they sit on; so that they 
seem to be roasted rather than burned. There cannot be a 
more lamentable spectacle; the sufferers continually crying 
out, while they are able, "Pity for the love of God/' yet it is 
beheld by all sexes and ages with transports of joy and satis- 
faction; and even the monarch surrounded by his courtiers 
has sometimes graced the scene with his presence, imagining 
that he was performing an act highly acceptable to the Deity." 

This is indeed a lamentable scene. It is cruel in the ex- 
treme, as cruel as men can make it. But it is by no means the 
most lamentable scene. For that, we must fall back on the 
records of the Bible and the torments inflicted by Jesus Christ : 

"The same shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in 
the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the 
Lamb. And the smoke of their torments ascendeth up forever 
and ever and they have no rest day nor night. ' ' 

Consider that victims of the Inquisition suffered but for 
a time, whereas the victims of Jesus Christ suffer "forever and 
ever and have no rest day nor night." Consider also that 
the number of the victims were perhaps several millions, but 
the number of the victims of Jesus Christ are uncounted bil- 
lions. 

The Inquisition was "walking in his steps" as nearly as 
possible. They could not torture their victims forever and 
ever, but they tortured them as long as they could by a slow 

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IS JESUS A MODEL? 

fire. Jesus Christ tortures with fire and brimstone ever- 
lastingly. 

Now let us see the reason or cause for which these tor- 
tures were inflicted. I read : ' ' The crime for which these dread- 
ful punishments were inflicted, was perhaps nothing more 
than reading a book which had been denounced as heretical 
by the holy office — assuming the title of free-mason — irritating 
a priest or at the most holding the views of a Mohammedan, 
of a Jew or followers of Calvin or Luther." 

Now, while all of these are most unreasonable causes, they 
are not in the class for which Jesus condemns and tortures his 
victims. One reason for which Jesus condemns reads thus : 

"If a man hate not his father and mother, his wife and 
children, his brethren and sisters, he cannot be my disciple." 

The Inquisition condemned people for not hating certain 
books, or certain organizations; but Jesus condemns for not 
hating father and mother, wife and children, etc. Is there the 
slightest doubt as to who is the greater enemy of mankind, the 
Inquisition or Jesus Christ ? I think not. 

I read again on page 170: "On the entry of the French 
into Toledo during the late peninsular war, General LaSalle 
visited the Palace of the Inquisition. The great number of 
the instruments of torture, especially the instruments to stretch 
the limbs and the drop baths which cause a lingering death, 
excited horror even in the minds of soldiers hardened in the 
field of battle. One of these instruments, singular in its kind 
for refined torture and disgraceful to humanity and religion, 
deserves particular description: In a subterraneous vault ad- 
joining the audience chamber, stood, in a recess in the wall, 
a wooden statue made by the hands of monks, representing 
the Virgin Mary. A gilded glory beamed around her head, 
and she held a standard in her right hand. Notwithstanding 

[mi] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

the ample folds of the silk garment which fell from her shoul- 
ders on both sides, it appeared that she wore a breast plate; 
and upon closer examination, it was found, that the whole 
front of the body was covered with extremely sharp nails and 
small daggers, or blades of knives, with the points projecting 
outwards. The arms and hands had joints and their motions 
were directed by machinery placed behind the partition. One 
of the servants of the Inquisition was ordered to make the 
machine maneouvre. As the statue extended its arms and 
gradually drew them back as if she would affectionately em- 
brace and press someone to her heart, the well filled knapsack 
of a Polish grenadier supplied for this time the place of the 
poor victim. The statue pressed it closer and closer, and 
when the director of the machinery made it open its arms and 
return to its first position the knapsack was pierced two or 
three inches deep and remained hanging upon the nails and 
daggers of the murderous instrument. ' ' 

This again is certainly a most barbarous treatment of 
the poor victims. But what is this in comparison to the "Son 
of Man" who thrust his sickle into the earth and trod the 
wine press so that the blood came by a space 533 miles square 
and to the depth of a horse 's bridle 1 

There is no comparison whatever between the press of 
the monks and the "great press of the wrath of God." 

Here again in the form or manner of torture, the followers 
of Jesus were faithfully walking "In his Steps." 

They saw how Jesus used not only fire, but how he used 
something that would cut and press; and so the faithful monks 
imitated as nearly as they could their glorious master and Lord. 
Strange, isn't it, how children will try to imitate their su- 
periors? 

But let me read again from the same page of history. I 

[142] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

think I am showing how the practice of burning and pressing 
people because of their belief or unbelief is based on the reli- 
gion of Jesus Christ; and if I can do that, I am doing what I 
set out to do. It is folly to denounce the followers and praise 
the leader when the mistakes of the follower are due entirely 
to the follies of the leader. Jesus set the pace and the Inquisi- 
tion merely followed. 

I read again from history: "This infamous tribunal, 
(namely, The Inquisition), is said to have caused, between 
the year 1481 and 1759, 34,658 persons to be burned alive, 
and to have sentenced 288,214 to the galleys or perpetual 
imprisonment. In the Auto of Toledo in February 1501, 67 
Jewish women were delivered over to the flames. The same 
punishment was inflicted on 900 women for being witches, by 
one Inquisitor alone. Under this accusation, upwards of thirty 
thousand women have perished at the hands of the Inquisition. 

Torquemada, that infernal Inquisitor of Spain, brought 
into the Inquisition in the space of 14 years no fewer than 
6000, who were burned alive with the greatest pomp and exal- 
tation. ' ' 

Now here our author asks a pertinent question, which I 
wish to put fairly before you and endeavor to answer it. 

He asks: "Has the Deity then, whom the Inquisition 
professes to serve, such a voracious appetite for the blood of 
human victims?" 

I answer this question from two points of view, and say 
from the standpoint of reason, no; and from the standpoint 
of the religion of Jesus, yes. 

The wrath of God or the Deity, according to Christianity, 
demands not only the blood of a few generations but practi- 
cally the blood of the whole human race. He tortures not 

[143] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

only for a few centuries but forever and ever, t( where their 
worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.' ' 

Deity or God becomes equal in its fury and malice with 
Jesus Christ, for in the light of the Bible they must be regarded 
as one and the same being. 

The horror of the Inquisition is great and terrible, but 
the horror of the last judgment — that greater Inquisition 
conducted by that chief of Inquisitors Jesus Christ, is dreadful 
beyond all comparison. It is not only more dreadful for the 
trifling causes for which the tortures are inflicted but the 
tortures are so much more terrible. 

And again: The heartlessness of Torquemada in burning 
thousands of people who differed from him in their opinions 
is not to be compared to the heartlessness of Jesus for burning 
whole nations for reasons differing in no wise from those of 
Torquemada. Both of them burned. One was a man, the 
other a supposed God. The man is ignorant and swayed by 
passions and conflicting interests. But the pretended God 
is all-wise, all-powerful and all-good, swayed neither by pas- 
sions nor by conflicting interests; and if an all powerful God 
torments even to the extent of a single sigh or a second of 
pain, he is a greater criminal than the greatest of all human 
Inquisitors or tormentors. That a perfect being can be the 
author of a single moment's pain is impossible. He would be 
less in aspiration and aim than man if that were the case. 
Man wants to do right. He doesn't want to give pain or 
sorrow to anything. But he is impotent and circumscribed 
by conditions. Often, he doesn't know better. Jesus Christ 
as the judge at the last judgment is less than a savage. 
He is less than anything alive. He is pure malice, pure hatred, 
pure desperation, pure madness. Nothing but that can tor- 
ture forever and ever. Nothing but that can look upon vic- 

[!44] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

tims "whose worm dieth not and where the fire is not 
quenched, ' ' without pity. 

But you say that today the church does not believe in 
those things. It does not burn at the stake — it does not force 
people to accept any religion. No. Because it is out of busi- 
ness. It is under the rule of reason and common sense. But 
does it believe in the rule of reason and common sense? Not 
at all. Let your Christian make a choice as between the au- 
thority of the Bible and the Constitution, or between Jesus 
and reason. How many Catholics will take the latter? How 
many Methodists? How many Baptists? How many Presby- 
terians? Not many. They are followers of Jesus and believe 
in his doctrines, which makes despots out of the best of them. 

Jesus tells them to shake the very dust from their feet 
against those who do not accept their creed. 

Not long ago I handed a pamphlet containing a criticism 
on "The Bible in the Public Schools" to a good Christian 
neighbor. I say "Good Christian," for the man is without 
doubt a very well-meaning person. A few days afterward I 
asked him how he liked it. "Oh," he said with a "praise the 
Lord" look, "I liked it so well that I put it in the fire and 
burned it up. I thought that was the best place for it." 

That was a true Christian act. That same narrow and 
benighted disposition is true unadulterated Christianity. 

Because a book or a person is not Christian, they must be. 
suppressed. A legislature of "Good Christians" would close 
every theatre, stop all sport, banish art, science, courting, 
kissing, dancing, and force people to go to cJmr^ii the &me 
as they did some centuries ago when Christians made and en- 
forced law. As far as her power reaches, the church perse- 
cutes heretics now as much as ever. She expels them from 
the church. That is all she can do. If the mere fact that a 

[145] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

man happens to differ from the majority is considered cause 
enough to call for his banishment from the church, would not 
the same church in power banish him from the state? An 
example of what would happen to the most innocent sports 
and amusements if Christianity became a controlling power 
in the government is contained in the following incident as 
reported in the Denver Post : 

"Colorado Springs, Feb. 15 — It is expected that there will 
be many protests at tomorrow's meeting of the city council 
concerning the passage of an ordinance which smacks of the 
old blue laws. The ordinance has passed first reading four to one. 
Under the ordinance as now framed it will be a violation of the 
law for a person to buy (on Sunday) a postage stamp, a postcard, 
or a hundred and one other articles of similar character unless 
he can prove 'case of necessity.' The ordinance was framed 
at the request of the ministers of the city, and has been hanging 
fire in the city council for the last two years. ' ' 

Here is another: 

"There was a dance at Denver University yesterday 
(Methodist). It was a harmless enough dance, participated 
in by four girls, with a colored girl at the piano, but it resulted 
disastrously. 

"Dean Herbert says 'dancing is hugging set to music' 
and that it is the original trouble maker — so no dancing can 
be done within the university precincts. 

"Now Miss Lucille Sharp, Miss Mayme McKay, Miss Beckie 
Maywood and Miss Hester Rice will appear before the faculty 
on Wednesday and tell why dancing is not an invention of 
the devil. 

"A year ago Dean Herbert made the statement that if he 
were a bachelor he would not marry a girl who had been 
hugged at dances for ten years by every member of her set." 

[146] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

Narrow-minded and blue is Christian law. Stonehearted 
and merciless is Christian rule. Therefore, the separation of 
church and state. We call it separation, but in reality it is 
the suppression of the authority of Jesus Christ from our gov- 
ernment. Why do all nations oust the church from their na- 
tional councils. Is it because it is such a good and noble 
institution ? No. It is because the church is a power loaded with 
tyranny and despotism, unworthy of trust and devoid of charity 
or justice. This is so because the church is founded on the doc- 
trines of Jesus which can produce only confusion, ignorance, 
degradation and despotism. 

He goes abroad amongst the nations thundering "Your 
faith or your life." "Believe or be damned." "Accept me 
or to hell with you." 

Can you not see the natural consequences of such a dis- 
position? Can you not see how religious intolerance is the 
natural fruit of the teachings of Jesus ? 

To show that Protestants are no better than Catholics, 
let me read to you another extract from the page of history. 

I read on page 176 this : ' ' The degree in which the spirit 
of intolerance and persecution still prevails shows a lamen- 
table deficiency of benevolence and of Christian spirit in the 
religious world." 

Notice how the good man associated the word "benevo- 
lence" with the words "Christian spirit." There is not the 
slightest relation between the two words. 

The "Christian Spirit" is, that Christianity must be ac- 
cepted on penalty of eternal suffering or destruction. 

Take the most popular verse in the whole Testament and 
it can be defined in no other way : 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only be- 

[i47] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

gotten son" that the world should have everlasting life? Not 
at all, but "that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish." 

The Christian spirit is always and everywhere "believe 
or perish." There is no benevolence or charity or argument 
about it. It is a plain irrevocable standpat, narrow, intoler- 
ant, my-way-or-go-to-the-devil proposition. 

An illustration of the Christian and the benevolent spirit 
is contained in the following statements: "He that believeth 
not shall be damned," as representing the Christian spirit, 
and this from the Constitution : 

1 ' Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, ' ' as representing 
the benevolent spirit. 

I now continue to read: "Notwithstanding the unjust and 
cruel sufferings which English Protestants endured from 
Popish priests and rulers, a short period only elapsed, after 
they had risen to power, before they began in their turn to 
harass their dissenting brethren, with vexations and cruel 
persecutions and fines and imprisonments, till they were forced 
to seek for shelter in a distant land. And no sooner had the 
English Independents settled in America than they set on 
foot a persecution against the Quakers no less furious than 
that which they themselves had suffered in the country from 
which they had fled. A number of these worthy persons they 
threw into prison, and seized upon the books they had brought 
from England and committed them to the flames. In virtue 
of a law which had been made against heretics in general, 
sentence of banishment was passed on them all; and another 
law punished with death 'all Quakers who should return into 
the jurisdiction after the banishment'; and it is a fact that four 
persons suffered death under this impolitic and unjust law. ' ' 

These are the facts with regard to the influence of the 

[148] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

teachings of Jesus on people in the past, the most intolerable, 
the most insane, the most murderous of all religions. 

How is it today? If figures don't lie we have positive 
proof that either the teachings of Jesus, directly or indirectly, 
produce criminals, or that the churches are composed and made 
up of the riffraff, weaklings and wreckage of the races. Take 
the prison records of any nation and note what percentage of 
the inmates come from Christian homes and Christian churches. 
In spite of the fact that in this country only about one-third 
of the population is Christian, about nine tenths of the pris- 
oners are of Christian extraction. Some time ago my atten- 
tion was called to an article giving the prison population of 
England according to their religious belief; and the statement 
was made that the churches representing about 15,000,000 
people furnished 143,000 prisoners, while the 7,000,000 who 
belonged to no religion furnished only 350. That was the sur- 
prise of my life. Are we not constantly reminded that all the 
good people are in the churches and that the bad and wicked 
and criminal and immoral are the non-christian ? Here were 
figures that said that among the Christians there is one crim- 
inal in every 258 people, while among the infidels there is only 
one in every 20,000. Think of that ! 

As a reflex of the shock I received from those figures I 
addressed a number of inquiries to the wardens of our own 
penitentiaries and found that the same christian population 
filled the prisons of the United States. Not one, but everyone 
I heard from. 

But as the words of Jesus explain the cruelties of the 
church, so, they explain the kind of people that have always 
been in the churches and of which the churches are composed 
today. 

In the twenty-second chapter of Matthew the entire history 

[i49] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

of the christian religion is most masterfully illustrated. This 
is one of the few true things the teachings of Jesus contain. 
The church is here compared with a feast and marriage of a 
king's son. Of course the king thought he commanded great 
respect among his people just as the church thinks. The 
killing was made and the tables prepared and the dinner is 
ready. Surely the treat of the king must not be set aside. 
But the people whom he wanted most he could not get. What 
did those who had good things of their own care for the 
king's treat. And the respectable and independent and well- 
to-do folks went after their own business, some to their 
"farms' ' and some to their "merchandise." "Then saith 
the king to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which 
were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the high- 
ways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage, and 
they gathered in as many as they could find, both good and 
bad, and the wedding was furnished with guests." In Luke 
the description of the kind of people which make up the 
churches is still a little more definite. There it mentions the 
"poor and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." In either 
case the desirable and preferred element of society did not 
come. Of course the best people were invited but refused to 
come. This is the exact condition today. Only the mental 
pauper, the moral derelict, the mentally "maimed, halt and 
blind," are in the churches. 

It should not be forgotten that in both these parables the 
well-to-do and respectable class was the one that the king 
and lord really wanted. As long as they had not refused his 
invitation, they were the desired people — the ones he had set his 
heart upon to have at the feast. When they refused, they did 
not lose their respectability or their other desirable qualities. 
Not at all. But because they were not looking for the kind of 

[i5o] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

a " feast' ' such as the "Lord and King" had set up, they simply 
remained absent. Before they refused, they were all of 
them fit to join the feast. In fact the servants were sent 
after them several times — they were the bidden ladies and 
gentlemen of the king's favor. But they were not beggars 
or tramps or cripples, and therefore did not need any charity. 
They were strong, healthy, intelligent and self-reliant people. 
The kingdom of heaven of the church has nothing for people 
of this kind. And they don't lose anything by not going to 
the feast. In fact they are gainers every time. If the man 
that tended to his farm — perhaps this was the very man that 
Jesus called a fool because he had torn down his old barns 
and build new and better ones — had gone to the feast and 
neglected his farm he might have been like Jesus — without a 
place to lay his head. That is what feasting does for people, 
especially those who feast in the churches and pay the bill 
besides. The man that went to see the oxen he had bought 
was a much desired guest, as was also the man who got married. 
These are the kind of people that the church is hankering after 
just as the king in the parable did. It was a cheap feast, a mighty 
disappointment. 

There is another valuable lesson in these parables. Notice 
that the king went into the dining hall and saw there a guest 
who had not put on the king 's livery. He was rather an inde- 
pendent sort of a fellow and thought his own clothes were good 
enough. The church cannot allow any one to have the slightest 
difference of opinion. "And the king saith to him, Friend, 
how earnest thou in hither without a wedding garment?" 
Maybe that is the reason the guests refused to come. They 
likely had heard what a tyrant the king was. That he was a 
tyrant, and the church the same, is proved by the way the 
poor trespasser was dealt with. "Bind him hand and foot 

[i5i] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

and take him away and cast him into outer darkness, where 
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This is what the 
church has always done as far as it was able. In Luke the 
conditions for escaping the "lord's" wrath are these. "If 
any man come to me and hate not his father, and his mother, 
and wife, and children and brethren and sisters, yea, his own 
life also, he cannot be my disciple." 

What sane man or woman will accept a feast under condi- 
tions like that? No wonder the church of Jesus Christ fur- 
nishes nine-tenths of the world's criminals. Made up, as testi- 
fied by the master himself, of the riff-raff of the gutter of human 
intelligence, having no will of their own, meek, submissive, 
ignorant, weak and deformed — what a picture of sadness and 
misery! The "poor, the maimed, the halt and the blind," not 
physically, but mentally, these are they of which is the king- 
dom of heaven. Always strength and self-reliance are in con- 
tempt with the Christian religion. The mental paupers are 
its idols. These it can mould to accept its impositions. These 
poor and weak ones it harvests in its campaigns of fear and 
revenge, and from this harvest it supplies the population of 
the world's prisons. 

Everything indicates that just in proportion that a nation 
becomes Christian does it become degenerate and criminal. 

Like Napoleon the first, Jesus Christ is the terror of the 
nations. His forces are, of course, hopelessly scattered; but 
strenuous efforts are in action to unite them for a final onslaught. 

It will depend on those who possess the "mind of science" 
and whose "religion is to do good" to bring about the final 
Waterloo of the benighted forces of this ambitious and terrible 
autocrat. 

But let us not think there will be peace and safety 
until he shall have shared the fate of Napoleon. Only the com- 

[152] 



IS JESUS A MODEL? 

plete isolation of Jesus from the lives and activities of the 
world will ever bring about the desired object. It is not the 
church or the people that are the cause of the Christian despot- 
isms and superstitions. It was the authority of Napoleon 
which laid waste the nations. Only when he had been deposed 
and deported to the rocky shores of St. Helena, were the na- 
tions out of danger. 

So also with Jesus. Only when his authority has been 
completely upset by the demonstrations of reason and science, 
and when he shall again have become the most "rejected and 
despised" of men, shall the world have release from his terrors. 

To this end the friends of liberty must join their forces 
not for the purpose of striking a blow against Christian men 
and women but for the purpose of refuting the authority of 
their diabolical king. 

The forces of the new world must array themselves against 
the forces of the old world. The world of science and educa- 
tion. The world of art and industry. The world of sport and 
the play world. The eating world and the drinking world 
(the world that believes in eating and drinking not by pre- 
scriptions, but by its own independent taste and choice). The 
world of song and laughter. The world of love and the en- 
joyment of sex. The muse world and the news world. The 
glad world and the sad world. These working and planning for 
the welfare of old mother earth and her children, here and now, 
are the bearers of the only gospel worthy of any consideration — 
the gospel of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. 

So many people fail to detect the real source of Christian 
intolerance. They blame the church and the preachers, any- 
thing and everything but the real thing. They look at a few 
glittering generalities and sing praises to Jesus. But know, 
each and all, that as long as the world looks with favor on 

[153] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

this character, it will be in bondage just to the extent of its 
favor. Only the complete dismissal and denial of his claims — 
only when he hangs " stone dead" on the cross of criticism 
and analysis shall we be safe from the wrath and fury of 
those who would follow in his footsteps. The teachings of 
Jesus contain definite instructions that the unbeliever shall 
be weeded out and cast into darkness or burned with fire. By 
compliance with these instructions, otherwise good men be- 
come despots and tyrants. 



[154] 



BOOK IV 
CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

Just as science stands for facts so Christianity stands for 
fiction. There is no reason why the christian religion should 
receive the slightest sympathy in the present advanced state 
of education and scientific knowledge. As long as religion is 
identified with a system of incomprehensible speculations, it 
is unworthy of any consideration in the practical affairs of 
life. At best it must take its place with illusion and narcotics. 
What little truth and morality is bound up with the christian 
religion belongs to science and ethics. Christianity is purely 
a matter of faith and not of facts. It has nothing to do with 
natural law and practical things. The appeal of Christianity 
is to purely imaginary problems. The earliest as well as the 
most modern form of Christianity has for its purpose the de- 
fence of theories about things of which nothing can be proved 
or disproved, because they are not connected with the visible 
and material universe. When in connection with the christian 
religion we come in contact with things that are true and 
demonstrable, they cease to be christian. The entire program of 
Christianity is devoted to death and thereafter. For the present 
Christianity has only fear and anxiety about the future. Spec- 
ulation about gods, devils, hells and heaven — how to escape 
from one phantom and get hold of another — completes the acro- 
batic feat with which christians engage themselves. Take 
these out of the christian religion, and what would there be left ? 

Christianity has to do only with the unknown. It is a sub- 
stitute for knowledge and an imposition for truth. It is a 
belief in a frame-up and faith in a mystery. 

[155] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

When therefore any considerable time and energy is de- 
voted to Christianity by the people of any country, the essen- 
tial and useful things are neglected and the degeneration of 
life and comfort is the inevitable result. It is like covering 
a horse with a silver blanket, when in order to hide his bony 
frame he should be given a larger portion of grain. Or like 
beating a drum to cure disease instead of looking after proper 
food and sanitation. 

The history of the christian religion is associated with more 
fraud and dishonor than any other human device. A nation that 
builds a pantheon is not to be classed as a christian nation, be- 
cause it does not believe in any particular god or set of doc- 
trines. Nor is the nation christian that builds an altar to the 
unknown god. Nor is that nation christian which provides that 
"no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or 
prohibiting the free exercise thereof. ' ' Nations which in any way 
recognize the equality of men are scientific rather than christian. 
Only the nation which forbids the worship of all gods except Jesus 
Christ is to be classed as a christian nation. When Rome be- 
came Christian, it became ignorant and brutal. And when 
Christianity went into power, science, art and civilization 
went into decay. Why? Chiefly because the energies of the 
people were directed to the glorification of Jesus, praying, 
fasting, self-mortification, making pilgrimages and wasting 
their time hunting for the "kingdom or heaven." The Chris- 
tian nation makes the supernatural — the incomprehensible and 
imaginary — the supreme and universal requirement. 

Whether the people have bread and homes is of little im- 
portance to Christianity; but that Jesus the god may have 
houses and that the priest may have honor and authority are 
of the greatest moment. The Christian religion puts a premium 
on piety and submission. It makes of self-reliance and mental 

[156] 



CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

research a felony, and of science (worldly wisdom) a thing of 
contempt. Its ideal is a vagabond and the man of thrift it 
calls a "fool." The well-to-do it promises fire and brimstone 
and for the beggar it has praise and acclaim. It detests all 
physical strength and beauty and makes of suffering and tribu- 
lation an example. It counts skill and knowledge as an 
obstruction, and character as vanity. It stigmatizes reason 
as depraved and intelligence as misleading. It forever ap- 
plauds faith and makes of new knowledge an outcast. It shuts 
its door to honest doubt and condemns all criticism. It can- 
not arbitrate a single point and can associate with none but 
those of its creed. Its over-ruling passion, is, your faith or 
your life. 

When Rome became Christian, it fell. 

When Christianity first made its advent, it was in a time 
of "profound and universal peace.' ' This is assured to us 
by every pen that ever wrote history. Law, literature, art, 
philosophy, oratory, architecture, engineering, had reached a 
point of perfection never known before, in short, the highest 
civilization that the world had ever contained, flourished and 
prevailed. Liberty under law had reached its highest realization. 
The magnificent and sublime ruler, Caesar Augustus, gave pro- 
tection to the humblest of his subjects. He gave to the obscurest 
opinion a hearing, and to every creed a niche in the pantheon. 

Greek philosophy, Egyptian mythology, Chaldean legends, 
Persian fable, German and Hindu lore, and all the hundreds 
of shades of belief, were friendly and intelligent enough 
to embrace each other and say "Joy and prosperity. ' ' But 
there was one who stood aloof and said "Whoso believeth not 
shall perish. ' ' And on this was founded a creed of pricks and 
bubbles and poisons and tortures that deluged the world with 
veritable demons of the lowest regions. Slowly the plague 

[157] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

spread; and, as it spread, the degeneration of civilization ap- 
peared and the flight of liberty took place. 

Nothing is more certain than that the fall of Roman civili- 
zation was the direct result of the teachings of Christianity. 
Just as we point to Pagan Rome as the example of the highest 
in government, law, literature, art, freedom and prosperity; 
so do we point to Christian Rome as the example of the greatest 
degradation, the darkest, the most cruel and tyrannical age 
in the world's history. Paganism achieved its greatness by 
compromise and arbitration, — "A temple for all the gods." 
Christianity achieved its degradation by the edict: "He who 
believeth not shall be damned/ ' 

We are often told that the early christians were peaceful 
and in harmony with each other. The extremest hatred as 
embodied in the teachings of Jesus for every one that would 
not submit to his demands, is the universal condition of the 
Christian religion. It did not come to establish peace, but 
strife and war and separation. The very nature of the Chris- 
tian religion is to hate and to denounce and curse those who 
refuse to submit to its doctrines. That is what Jesus, Paul 
and every evangelist engaged himself at, up to the notorious 
"Billy" Sunday. "We Christians are the salt of the earth;" 
and everybody not of the clan are regarded as false prophets 
and liars. What can be expected of a system of life so steeped 
with hate and contempt ? And it has left its imprint upon every 
country and upon every individual that ever imbibed its 
intoxication. 

To a Christian that which is un-christian or non-christian 
is to be hated and despised. Jesus said to his followers: 
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill 
you. And many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive 
many, but he that shall endure to the end shall be saved." 

[158] 



CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

He that endures in his ignorance and will not listen to reason 
or experience is the true Christian. It is so today and will be 
so forever. It is impossible for a Christian to arbitrate or discuss 
any point of his faith. He that endures alone will be saved. 
"Endures" in his point of view — in what the priest says is 
the truth. Christianity invites persecution. It must stand 
against all progress and discovery. It must regard all 
change and improvement as the work of false prophets. It must 
hold in contempt every person that in the slightest measure 
disagrees with its policy. It must refrain from considering 
anything new and untried, for many shall be deceived. Fanatical 
endurance in cruel and senseless doctrines was what caused 
Christian persecutions. 

When this same fanaticism is in power, what else, but 
what history tells us, could be expected ? 

In the fall of Rome, the natural result of Christian in- 
fluence came to its fullest fruition. Almost from the day 
that Jesus and his disciples began to agitate their delusion, a 
spirit of hate and malice, and treason was engendered. Such 
bitter and terrible curses were hurled against every person 
who would not yield to them, that the very horror of the lan- 
guage paralyzed the mind of the listener. Nations were stam- 
peded into accepting Christianity, because of the flames that 
promised eternal pain and torment in the furnace of fire. And 
once Christianity is in control of a man's mind, then his eyes 
become blind and his feet go backwards forever. The present 
world becomes a temptation and a snare ; and to hate all things 
of the flesh and of beauty and comfort, is his task in the sight 
of his god. And in the trail of this revulsion against reason 
follows the fall of Rome and everything Christianity has ever 
touched. Naturally, as in other parties so in religious bodies, 
leaders spring up and present their claims. And because the 

[159] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

Christian religion permits of no compromise or arbitration, 
he who once gets recognition governs with an opinion that 
must endure to the end. Christianity must hate those of its 
own household, it must hate father and mother and children 
for the sake of an opinion. An opinion must stand against 
all reason, all experience, all knowledge, against all friendship, 
and it must endure to the end. 

Immediately upon the diffusion of this insanity, the Roman 
Empire became honey-combed with strife and contention. Be- 
fore this plague of Christianity, as before a pestilence or flood 
the civilization of Rome stood helpless. To be convicted of 
treason and suffer execution as a felon, was, and is, to follow 
in the master's footsteps. There were no torments severe 
enough to make a Christian compromise or arbitrate his posi- 
tion. He will die in his delusion — he will endure to the end. 
For three hundred years Rome stood out against the pest. A 
few of the emperors tried to suppress it by isolation and pun- 
ishment. The majority of them refused to use force and hoped 
to save the empire by tolerant and humane measures towards 
all religions. But Christianity could accept nothing less than 
rule or ruin. And it got both. 

How much of common defence will the repetition of the 
apostles' creed provide? How many Goths and Vandals will 
the lord's prayer keep from the nation's borders? How many 
measures of flour will a million priests put in the bin? How 
long would it take a mass and a communion to discover steam 
and electricity? How many monastries and cathedrals would 
it take to make the people prosperous? Christianity spends 
its time serving God. When a man 's needs are great and terri- 
ble, he is more disposed to fear and worship God; but if he is 
well-to-do, he can afford to forget God. All things that make 
for poverty and suffering are favorable to the spread of Chris- 
tie] 



CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

tianity. Comfort and contentment make for independence and 
courage. Health, wealth, pleasure, art, science, literature, and 
progress are as poison to Christianity. It can give countenance 
to Lazarus in heaven and Dives in hell orly. That is its guide 
and master. 

Paganism could consider both the message and the interests 
of Horus, Zeus, Ormadz, Abraham, and Woden. The Greeks 
could identify the Roman Minerva with their own Athena. 
The Romans could put Jupiter, Osiris and Jehovah on the same 
throne. The Occident and Orient can sit down and drink to 
"Democracy." But Christianity must sulk and despise every 
friendly approach. It must endure to the end. Without con- 
cession, or the slightest charitable feeling, it must rule or ruin. 
It must destroy the temples of every people, tear down every 
altar, burn every library, hate the very dust of the streets of 
those who will not yield, and put every dissenter into the pit 
and furnace. ' i The smoke of their torments shall ascend forever 
and ever and they shall have no rest day or night. ' ' 

Christianity ruled for a thousand years. That time is the 
world's plummet and symbol of malice, cruelty, ignorance and 
inhumanity at its lowest and worst. 

But nature would not permit herself to be thus outraged 
forever. Insanity is certain to work out its own destruction 
sooner or later. 

In the year 321 A. D., orthodox Christianity went into 
power. In the year 477 A. D., the Roman Empire had passed 
out of existence, and with it all that made it great and glorious. 
Military power, religious toleration, philosophy, art, civil law 
and civil government. That was the first great wreck in the 
"steps of Jesus.' ' The second was the destruction of literary 
treasures by the burning of books and libraries, — treasures 
which the world can never replace. This was perhaps the 

[161] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

greatest crime that any organization ever committed. But it 
was the policy of Christianity to destroy every vestige of 
worldly knowledge and power: "I am the truth." That was 
the final consideration. Whatever did not conform to the 
delusion of this insanity must be mercilessly and utterly de- 
stroyed. Comstockism is burning books today just as Chris- 
tianity burned the Alexandrian books. Everything improving 
and progressive must be crushed for fear that Christianity 
might be shown not to possess truth in all its fullness. 

Incapable of rising to the requirements of personal and 
national prosperity, intelligence, and safety, a state of dark- 
ness and terror covered the world as far as Christianity carried 
its influence. The city of Rome, with a population of 6,000,000 
under Augustus, actually became the dwelling place of the owl 
and wolf without a human inhabitant for more than a quarter 
of a century. Christianity being an insanity, the nations not 
stricken with the malady had little difficulty in overrunning 
Christian territory. Instead of protecting its people by proper 
material defences, it was assumed that God would protect his 
own. Prayer, penance and holy pilgrimages were proclaimed; 
and a man on his knees with his hands stretched out to the 
skies was considered the best protection against the non-chris- 
tian hosts that took possession of the christian lands. The 
infamy of christian fanaticism may be judged from the fact 
that an army of 50,000 children were sent to recover the lost 
11 sepulchre ' ' from the Moslems, thinking that their supersti- 
tious defense of the tomb of Jesus by the sacrifice of the inno- 
cent little ones would so move the heart of their Saviour and 
god that fire would fall from the skies and so redeem the holy 
place. But there was not the slightest response, and more than 
a million lives were lost in the attempt to recover an empty grave. 

[162] 



CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

That was the world's greatest wreckage of human life for the 
sake of a souvenir. 

The next wreckage of human life was the million that were 
burned, tortured and starved to death to make and keep the 
world Christian. A theory, a fancy, an assumption, a mental 
disfiguration is all that Christianity ever had to stand on. And 
yet look what diabolical crimes were committed in its defense! 
Christianity never was anything but an unfounded theory. It 
never laid claim to being a fact in nature, but has always stood 
as a system of theology. And what is Theology? A specula- 
tion, a guess, a fancy. But Christianity was insane enough to 
take this acknowledged system of guesses and declare it as 
truth and put hundreds of thousands to the rack and stake on 
an acknowledged system of theories. But once let the human 
mind come under the influence of such terrors and spooks and 
ghosts as Christianity represents, and there is no telling where 
the madness will end. If it is the universal rule for the god 
and son of god to put their enemies to the flames, the followers 
are enjoined by example to do like-wise. In this is fulfilled 
the demand of justice as exercised by the predominant au- 
thority. The god and the book of god are for suppressing 
all who will not shout for the cause. That is the standard. 
That is the law and custom, and the law is not to be amended 
or disputed. It is infallible and eternal in the sight of every 
Christian. Once admit that the god or the word is mistaken 
and that those not within the belief are not damned, both the 
god and the word will stand as the greatest kind of a fraud. 

What may be properly classed with the wreckage of 
Christianity is the wholesome and beautiful usage of com- 
memorating the return of the sun from its winter solstice with 
the promise of warmth and life for the dead and cold northern 
countries, by turning it into a fetish for the birth of an imagin- 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

ary, false and vicious god. The return of the sun was a rea- 
sonable object to celebrate and hail with the greatest delight. 
It was real, it was fact, it was salvation, it was health and 
happiness. But Christianity made a farce of it by proclaiming 
it the birthday of Jesus Christ as the Creator of the Universe. 
What insanity ! What inexpressible stupidity ! 

The same is true of Easter and Sunday. The fine senti- 
ment of celebrating the coming of spring — the resurrection of 
the grass and flowers and leaves — how full of meaning and 
comfort ! But Christianity must steal and rob and pervert the 
true gladness into the rising of the body of a man. The joy 
of universal life focused into a walking corpse. 

And the day set aside for the great life-giver, the dispenser 
of every good gift, the bringer of light and brightness from 
whom all blessings flow, must be twisted from fact and reality 
into a day for kneeling and agonizing before a human being. 
Instead of basking in the smiles of the shining king of heaven, 
Christianity made a phantom of the world's greatest ruler 
filled with malice, fury, hate and destruction. The curse of 
the fall, the curse of the flood, the curse of Egypt, the curse of 
the Hebrews, with all their terrors, besides the Christian hell 
with its billions of tortured souls, to the recital of these has 
Christianity wrecked and mutilated the happy day of the 
smiling Sun — Sunday. 

The authority of the bible carries with it all the curses of 
both the old and the new testament. When Christianity went into 
power, it said "Believe or perish." It says the same thing 
today. No orthodox church has opened its doors to a difference 
of opinion to this day. A church may differ from other 
churches, but it must not allow a difference as to the quality 
of its own creed. The slightest doubt or criticism will invite 
expulsion. Of course in many cases, worldly common sense 

[164] 



CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

and education will permit reforms to take place; but this is 
against the inherent nature of Christianity. It is in rebellion 
against it just as the Protestant movement was a rebellion 
against what was then orthodox. And the Protestant move- 
ment, while differing from the Catholic in form and ceremony, 
believes in the same God and Christ and upholds the same faith 
in all its essential features. The underlying purpose is identical. 
As long as either the one or the other had authority to persecute, 
burn, hang, and imprison, they went to it without the slightest 
compunction of conscience. Such was the method of the god 
to bring the unbeliever to justice. Why should it not be followed 
by his children? Until the rule of reason put the Christian 
religion as it were in a cage and the civil powers subjected the 
churches to human laws, Christianity never thought of allowing 
any kind of religion or opinion to follow its own inclination. 

It is almost beyond comprehension that, in the face of the 
fact that it was paganism that contained the most glorious 
civilization, and that Christianity sank the world's best and 
greatest into its darkest and most cruel condition, and that 
whatever light and progress the world has had was when pa- 
ganism received recognition; yet, in spite of all this, we have 
to suffer the blasphemous assertion that Jesus gave to the 
world what civilization we now possess. 

There was a Revival of Learning. What had Christianity 
to do with this? The learning of the revival was the study of 
what Greek and Roman literature the vandal hands of Chris- 
tianity could not destroy. It was Platonic, Socratic and Pyth- 
agorean. It was Ionian. It was Stoic. It was Epicurean. It 
was Cynic. It was held in the bitterest contempt by Chris- 
tianity and as far as possible crushed and prohibited. Point 
to any period since the advent of Christianity, and where there 
is the faintest approach of learning and progress it was the 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

work of infidelity and in opposition to Christianity. The re- 
vival of learning was possible because Christianity had be- 
come so weakened by its murderous disposition towards all 
independent thought that many of those in authority refused 
to be ruled by the ecclesiastical power and permitted the free 
pursuit of knowledge and art in opposition to the demands of 
Christian authority. This was the condition in Florence for a 
long time and this alone made the revival of learning possible. 
The same condition prevailed in Germany at the time of Luther. 
The Princes were alienated from the power of the church, and 
the cause of Luther would have been crushed had it not been 
for these infidel and non-christian Princes. Shakespeare be- 
came possible because of the non-christian character of Queen 
Elizabeth. 

Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant and Spinoza, the founders of 
modern philosophy and mental liberty, were pagan and infidel. 
The fathers of our own country entirely ignored the demands 
of Christianity and founded a pagan and non-christian form 
of government. The great fear that possesses the hearts of 
all patriots and friends of liberty at this very moment is that 
Christianity may by its fanatical greed for power and its wild 
panic for souls again become unchained and lay its murderous 
hands on our liberal and progressive institutions. The madness 
of Christianity is as acute today as ever. The only ray of hope 
£or our escape is in the divided house. Under the false im- 
pression that Christianity exerts a moral and benevolent in- 
fluence upon people, many are victims of a most fatal mistake 
in supporting Christian propaganda. It will be asked in what 
way it can be proven that Christianity is not a good thing. 
In response to this it might be asked: How can it be shown 
that Christianity has a wholesome influence? Is a Christian 
a more trustworthy person, than the non-christian? Do banks 

[166] 



CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

and business institutions prefer to deal with Christians? Can 
a Christian get credit and recognition upon his profession that 
he is a member of this or that Christian body? Nothing of the 
kind. As far as honesty and integrity are concerned, a Chris- 
tian is not a distinction from the common lot of men in the 
least. All the difference between a Christian and a non-chris- 
tian is in externals. 

As far as appearances go, there is no difference between 
Christian and non-christian. But there is a gulf that divides 
pagan and Christian which can only be found by national con- 
ditions and statistics. In the first place, take education and 
compare the illiterate ratio between countries under christian 
domination and those where non-christian institutions prevail. 

There is no use in bringing figures to bear on this subject. 
It is a universal fact that just in proportion that Christianity 
is strong in any country, education is weak. This even holds 
in the family. The stronger the Christian faith, the less place for 
knowledge and culture. Devotion to the past and to the super- 
natural, shut out present improvement and progress. The man 
or woman who makes a fetish out of his church or book, is 
incapable of self-government and self-direction. From lack of 
exercise, their minds become dispossessed of the power of 
reason. If by binding the feet they become deformed and use- 
less, the binding of the mind cannot escape the same result. 
There is no question that this is the case, and that the religion 
that forbids the building of a Pantheon and refuses to con- 
sider an altar to the "unknown" will rot in its narrowness. 

In what way can it be proven that Christianity is not an in- 
fluence for good in our own time? The illiteracy test is one. The 
criminal is another. While we may not be able fully to explain 
the reason why our prisons are filled with Christians, the fact 
that this is the case is entirely beyond dispute. Perhaps some 

[167] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

light on this problem may be gained from the following, by Sena- 
tor Williams, while discussing the illiteracy test in connection 
with immigration: " There is one thing that I am afraid of — I 
am as much afraid of ignorance as a delicate woman is of a 
drunken man staggering on a narrow sidewalk. She knows he 
has no fixed design to hurt her, but may stagger against her; 
moreover he may ignorantly imagine that she has struck him and 
resent it in blows/ ' There is nothing more certain than that 
ignorance and brutality go together. Also in a large measure, 
ignorance and Christianity are generally found together. 
Christianity thrives best in the absence of education. In fact, 
belief in the supernatural is in relation to knowledge and learn- 
ing, as the night is to the rising sun. When the light ap- 
proaches, the night vanishes. When education enlightens the 
mind, religious belief, if it is a matter of faith in gods and 
miracles, loses its every support. The Christian religion, being 
opposed to free thought and free discussion and holding in con- 
tempt all doubt and criticism, and denouncing as depraved and 
vicious, every person, who in any way differs with its creed, 
naturally invites ignorance and mental confusion. Where 
Christianity is the predominant power, ignorance and brutality 
grip the whole people. Where Christianity is in control of only 
a part of the people, that part becomes ignorant and brutal. 
Thus we have the almost unbelieveable situation confronting us 
in our prison records that 9/10 of the convicts are christians. 
This becomes still more staggering when the fact is considered 
that less than one-third of our population is Christian. One- 
third furnishes 9/10 of the prisoners, and two-thirds of the pop- 
ulation furnishes only 1/10; and this two- thirds is the part that 
is pagan or non-religious. The mere statement of this awful 
condition will be brushed aside by Christians and Christian 

[i68] 



CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

sympathizers as the dream of a fool. Therefore, the following 
figures : 

RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF PRISONS 

San Quentin, California, June 30, 1912. 

Total number of prisoners 1937 

Catholics 766 

Protestants 812 

Miscellaneous 158 

No religion 201 

Percentage with religious belief 88.48 

Percentage with NO religious belief 11.52 

Canon City, Colorado, Nov. 30, 1912. 

Total number , 667 

Catholics 254 

Protestants 274 

Miscellaneous 114 

No religion ; 25 

Percentage with religious belief 96.27 

Percentage with NO religious belief 03.73 

Joliet, Illinois, Sept. 30, 1910. 

Total number 1141 

Catholics 615 

Protestants 480 

Miscellaneous 35 

No religion 11 

Percentage with religious belief 99.05 

Percentage with NO religious belief 00.95 

[169] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

Federal Prison, Leavenworth, Kansas, June 30, 1912. 

Total number 1165 

Catholics , 322 

Protestants 499 

Miscellaneous 310 

No religion 34 

Percentage with religious belief 97.09 

Percentage with NO religious belief 02.91 

Allegheny County Work House, Penn., 1912. 

Total number 3674 

Catholics 2016 

Protestants 1168 

Miscellaneous 107 

No religion 83 

Percentage with religious belief 99.98 

Percentage with NO religious belief 00.02 

New York State Prisons 1917 
(Twenty-third annual report.) 

Total number 130,820 

Catholics 75,286 

or about 57 percent 

Protestants 37,750 

or about 29 percent 

Hebrews 14,920 

or about 12 percent 

No religion 1,864 

or about 2 per cent 
Total population 10,273,375 

[170] 



CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

Catholics 2,464,340 

or about 23 percent 
Protestants 1,270,281 

or about 12 percent 

Hebrews 514,434 

or about 5 percent 
No religion 6,024,320 

or about 60 percent 

Report U. S. Bureau of Education 

Criminals professing religion in U. S. prisons 83% 

Criminals professing NO religion in U. S. prisons 17% 

Criminals in English Prisons 

Catholics 1 in 40 

Church of England 1 in 72 

Protestants 1 in 662 

No religion 1 in 20,000 

The same table from which the above is taken shows the 
non-religious population of England as 7,000,000. 

Catholic statistics give the number of Christians in the 
United States as less than 30,000,000. Dr. H. K. Carroll, Spe- 
cial agent of the U. S. Census Office, gives the number of 
Christians in the U. S. as 35,000,000. 

A religious census taken of the City of Cleveland, Ohio, 
gives the following results : 

Total population 650,000 

Catholics , 75,000 

Protestants 82,000 

Miscellaneous " 43,000 

No religion 450,000 

[i7i] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

Survey by the Fourth Presbyterian Church of the 21st 
"Ward of Chicago. 

Total population 45,633 

Catholics 5,685 

Protestants 4,697 

Miscellaneous 236 

No religion 35,015 

My inference from the above figures is that religion is not 
only not an agent for good but that it is a positive cause of vice 
and crime. It has been objected that prisoners are not reliable 
and that they say they belong to some religion when they do not. 
But this is a poor way of getting around the problem. It is in 
the first place a mere assumption and in the second place a 
slander. If people are so prone to say they are religious when 
they are not, how account for the 35,000 non-religious people in 
the Church Survey of the Twenty-first "Ward of Chicago, or of 
the 450,000 in the city of Cleveland? Let us judge this case as 
we do every other case by the preponderance of evidence and 
the reliability of the witnesses. Take the Catholic prisoners — 
will a man say he is a Catholic, when he is not? Shall we say 
that our prison records are a mass of falsehood or that men will 
lie about their religion? What advantage could a prisoner ex- 
pect by saying that he was a Christian belonging to this or 
the other denomination if he had not at some time joined and 
belonged to the mentioned body ? There can be no other verdict 
but that the Christian religion is composed of the weaklings of 
the race or that it is the cause of positive degeneration and crime. 

Just as the Dark Ages must be laid to the corrupting influ- 
ence of the Christian religion so the wreckage in our prisons. 
Christianity sows the seed of faith and it blooms into stagnation 
and fanaticism. It smokes the pipe of mental narcotics and sinks 

[172] 



CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

into a stupor, in which it must endure forever on penalty of eter- 
nal damnation. It drinks the alcohol of fear and cowardice, and 
shrieks and crouches from its own shadows. It is forever in the 
sight of a horrible pit of fire, filled with billions of moaning, 
cringing and tormented human beings without hope, without re- 
lief. Not a moment can a Christian look upon life with a sober 
mind. Never but what he is in a state of panic and delirium. 
Never so much as the slightest ascent from the orthodox rut, but 
a jealous and furious god may be offended and the soul cast into 
hell. The "unsaved' ' or "lost" can never be regarded in any 
condition except "where their worm dieth not and the fire is not 
quenched." What else but crouching fear and wild panic can 
possess the Christian ! And what can be expected from a panic 
stricken person or body? The wonder is, that it is not worse. 
Methinks that if my heart could believe for a single moment in 
the Christian religion it would stop from horror — my brain 
would burst and every atom of my body would turn to stone. In 
a measure this is what happens to everyone, when the panic of 
Christianity takes possession of him. The brain loses its func- 
tion and the heart its humanity. Everything gives way to a hor- 
rible calamity that can never again be forgotten or set aside. It 
follows the victim in the day with night-mares and in the night 
with holocausts. Not a sermon but the fate of the non-Christian 
is hung over the great gulf of eternal wrath and fury. Not a 
campaign for souls but the clash and roar and thunder of a god's 
malice and brutality. Not a conversion, but the extinction of 
somebody's reason. 

To think of a smiling or joyous Christian is to contemplate 
the marks of lunacy or a bare-faced hypocrite. Can a sane man 
smile upon the victims of the Iroquois holocaust ? Can joy stand 
and make pleasant faces in the sight of a burning furnace full of 

[*73] 



AMERICANISM versus CHRISTIANITY 

tormented and writhing fathers and mothers and sons and 
daughters — yes, even infants ? 

Christianity is so savage, so diabolic, that no language can 
adequately measure its awfulness. It is worse and more horrible 
than all the miseries, pains and anguish of the earth multiplied a 
billion billion billion times. But its very horror is now the cause 
of its defeat. While still thousands kiss its terrors and offer 
their necks, other thousands and millions regard it as a joke. 
And the number is being increased year by year. Soon the sun 
of science will rise in all its glory. Soon Americanism will dis- 
place the vagaries of supernatural religion and establish in truth, 
and in fact, the great objects for which its founders declared and 
for which the national flag today gloriously floats and proclaims 
to the world the new faith from which a workable release from 
the ills and burdens of life may be obtained, namely: "That 
all men are created equal, ' ' that they are ' ' endowed with certain 
inalienable rights ; that among these, are life, liberty and the pur- 
suit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are 
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the con- 
sent of the governed ; ' ' and that the government and the people 
in common can hope for the highest and permanent good and 
happiness only, through the "formation of a more perfect Union, 
the establishment of Justice, the insurance of domestic Tran- 
quillity, the provision for the common Defence, the promotion of 
the general Welfare, and in securing the blessings of Liberty for 
themselves and their posterity. ' ' 

For this sublime and noble purpose, ' ' We, the people of the 
United States, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION." 

And we have not in any way renounced or rescinded it. It 
is a natural and scientific high-way to the world's brightest 
future, and if there is a hereafter, where intelligent beings have 

[174] 



CAN CHRISTIANITY SAVE US? 

existence, their happiness will not be secure, unless, directed 
by the same ideals and principles represented and guarded by 
the American spirit and the American Flag. 



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